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TALES 


SHIPWRECKS 


AND    OTHER 


DISASTERS    AT    SEA. 


BY  THOMAS  BINGLEY, 

AUTHOR    OP    "STORIES    ABOUT    DOGS,"    ETC 


EMBELLISHED    WITH    ENGRAVINGS. 


BOSTON: 


TAPPAN     &    DENNET, 

114   Washington   Street. 


&»*? 
%& 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER    I.  Pack. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Adventures  of  Cap- 
tain Richard  Falconer, 7 

CHAPTER    II. 
Uncle  Thomas  continues  his  Narrative  of  Captain 

Falconer's  Adventures, 28 

CHAPTER    III. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Wreck  of  the  Vryheid,      51 

CHAPTER    IV. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Mutiny  of  the  Bounty,     75 

CHAPTER    V. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Loss  of  the  Kent 

East  Indiaman, 104 

CHAPTER    VI. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Wreck  of  the  Medusa,   126 

CHAPTER    VII. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Loss  of  the  Winter- 
ton  East  Indiaman,  .        .        .  141 
1* 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Loss  of  the  Royal 

George, 153 

CHAPTER    IX. 
Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  Wreck  of  the  Steam- 
ers Killarney  and  Forfarshire,      .        .        .        164 

CHAPTER    X. 

Uncle  Thomas  tells  about  the  "Wreck  of  the  Albion 

New  York  Packet, 189 

CHAPTER   XL 

Uncle  Thomas  tells  of  the  Loss  of  the  Doddington 

East  Indiaman, 202 


TALES   OF   SHIPWRECKS 


CHAPTER  I. 

UNCLE  THOMAS  TELLS  ABOUT  THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
CAPTAIN  RICHARD  FALCONER. 

"  Shipwrecks,  Uncle  Thomas!  oh 
yes,  we  shall  be  delighted  J"  exclaim- 
ed three  or  four  voices,  as  the  boys 
crowded  round  the  fire,  each  striving 
who  should  sit  nearest  their  kind  old 
Uncle,  who  delighted  to  amuse  them 
by  telling  them  the  nicest  little  stories 
in  the  world,  of  which,  in  the  course 
of  his  reading,  he  had  gathered  to- 
gether a  great  store.  He  had  already 
related  to  them,  with  much  applause, 


8  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

a  variety  of  "  Stories  about  Dogs,"  as 
well  as  "  Stories  about  the  Instinct  of 
Animals,"  and  now  proposed  to  com- . 
mence  a  series  of  narratives,  "  Tales 
of  Shipwrecks,  and  other  Disasters  at 
Sea,"  a  proposal  which  his  little  audi- 
ence, as  we  have  above  stated,  received 
with  unbounded  delight. 

I  am  glad  you  have  chosen  Ship- 
wrecks, Uncle  Thomas,  I  am  so  very 
fond  of  such  stories.  I  have  just  fin- 
ished Robinson  Crusoe,  and  almost 
wish  I  was,  like  him,  cast  away  on  a 
desert  island,  that  I  might  have  my 
man  Friday,  and  my  goat,  and  my 
gun  !  —  It  would  be  delightful ! 

I  am  afraid,  Frank,  you  would  not 
find  it  so  delightful  as  you  seem  to 
think.  However,  as  you  like  it  so 
much,  I  will  begin  my  tales  by  relat- 
ing the  adventures  of  Captain  Richard 
Falconer,  who  was  cast  away  on  a 


CAPTAIN   FALCONER'S    ADVENTURES.  9 

desert  island,   and  show  you  how  he 
fared. 

Falconer  was  a  native  of  Bruton, 
England.  His  mother  died  when  he 
was  very  young,  and  being  thus  thrown 
on  his  father's  care,  he  was  his  con- 
stant companion.  Having  been  a  great 
traveller  in  his  youth,  the  elder  Fal- 
coner delighted  to  recount  his  adven- 
tures, and  his  son  thus  acquired  an 
ardent  desire  to  follow  in  his  steps. 
With  this  view,  as  he  grew  up,  he  of- 
ten begged  that  his  father  would  allow 
him  to  become  a  sailor.  His  father 
knew  better,  however,  and  always  re- 
plied to  his  solicitations  by  saying, 
"  Stay  where  you  are  ;  you  know  not 
the  hazards  and  dangers  that  attend 
the  life  of  a  sailor :  think  no  more  of 
going  to  sea,  for  I  know  that  it  is  only 
the  desire  of  youth,  fond  of  change, 
which  now  actuates   you  ;    and  if  I 


10  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

were  to  give  you  leave,  one  week's 
voyage  would  make  you  wish  you  were 
at  home!"  Young  Falconer,  how- 
ever, was  not  satisfied  with  this  rea- 
soning, and  again  and  again  besought 
his  father  to  comply  with  his  request. 
All  his  entreaties  were,  however,  un- 
availing, till  at  length  an  event  hap- 
pened which  put  an  end  to  his  father's 
scruples. 

The  elder  Falconer  held  the  situa- 
tion of  collector  of  taxes,  and  having 
collected  a  large  amount  of  revenue, 
he  was  unfortunately  robbed  of  it,  be- 
fore he  could  pay  it  over  to  govern- 
ment. Fearful  that  some  negligence, 
of  which  he  had  no  doubt  been  guilty, 
would  expose  him  to  punishment,  and 
being  thus  a  ruined  man,  he  resolved 
to  retire  to  some  place  where  he  was 
unknown,  and  thus  escape  the  vigi- 
lance of  his  enemies. 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     11 

One  morning  he  called  his  son  to 
him,  and  said,  "  Richard,  you  have 
often  been  desirous  of  going  to  sea, 
and  I  have  always  endeavored  to  dis- 
suade you  from  it ;  but  as  what  has 
happened  makes  it  impossible  for  me 
to  remain  any  longer  in  the  place  of 
my  birth,  I  must  now  recommend  you 
to  the  way  of  life  which  I  should  never 
have  chosen  for  you,  but  that  my  cir- 
cumstances will  not  now  allow  me  to 
provide  for  you  in  any  other  way. 
Here,"  continued  he,  "  take  this 
money,  which  I  can  ill  spare  out  of 
my  little  fortune  ;  but  since  it  is  all  I 
can  do  for  you,  take  it,  and  may 
Heaven  prosper  you  !  May  the  bles- 
sing of  a  father,  whose  prayers  shall 
ever  be  sent  to  the  Almighty  Creator 
for  your  welfare,  always  be  with  you. 
Here  is  a  letter  to  Captain  Pultney, 
of  Bristol,  whose  friendship,  I  am  sure, 


12  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

will  be  of  service  to  you."  Then,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  he  embraced  his  son, 
and  once  more  gave  him  his  blessing, 
and  took  his  leave  forever.  They 
never  saw  each  other  again ! 

Having  packed  up  a  few  things  in  a 
portmanteau,  Falconer  gave  them  to 
an  old  servant  of  his  father's,  who,  to 
show  his  gratitude  in  the  only  way  he 
had  in  his  power,  determined  to  see 
him  as  far  as  Bristol.  They  set  out 
in  the  morning,  and  reached  it  by 
noon. 

Captain  Pultney  received  him  with 
great  cordiality,  and  promised  to  do 
everything  in  his  power  to  promote  his 
views,  and  when,  by  his  advice,  Fal- 
coner had  studied  the  mathematics, 
and  he  thought  him  capable  of  per- 
forming the  duties  of  mate,  he  sent  him 
on  board  the  Albion  frigate,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Wise  ;    and,  on 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     13 

the  2nd  of  May,  they  set  sail  for  Ja- 
maica, with  a  fair  wind.  As  soon  as 
they  lost  sight  of  land,  Falconer  began 
to  be  extremely  sea-sick,  and  he  bore 
the  rough  jokes  of  the  sailors  very  in- 
differently. One  cried  out,  " There's 
an  excellent  master's-mate  ;  he  '11  hit 
Jamaica  to  a  hair,  if  the  island  was  no 
bigger  than  the  bung-hole  of  a  cask!  " 
However,  in  a  day  or  two,  he  perfectly 
recovered,  and  was  never  afterwards 
troubled  with  sea-sickness. 

Nothing  material  happened  till  they 
entered  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  when  they 
encountered  a  dreadful  storm ;  the  bil- 
lows ran  very  high,  and  the  vessel 
seemed  to  be  the  sport  of  the  waves. 
So  high  did  these  run,  that  a  ship,  that 
overtook  the  Albion  the  day  before, 
and  accompanied  it,  was  sometimes 
altogether  lost  sight  of,  though  they 
were  not  half  a  furlong  distant  from 
2 


14  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

each  other  :  this  continued  for  three 
days,  when  the  storm  abated  some- 
thing of  its  fierceness,  though  it  still 
blew  very  hard.  The  other  vessel,  by 
firing  a  gun  and  showing  a  signal, 
made  it  appear  that  she  was  in  dis- 
tress ;  but  the  sea  ran  so  high,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  afford  her  any  as- 
sistance ;  yet,  the  Albion,  being  to 
windward,  bore  down  upon  her,  to  be 
as  near  as  possible  without  endanger- 
ing her  own  safety.  They  found  that 
she  had  sprung  a  leak,  and  though 
they  had  all  hands  by  turns  at  the 
pump,  yet  the  water  gained  upon  them. 
They  begged  the  crew  of  the  Albion 
to  hoist  out  a  boat,  as  their  own  was 
stove.  They  accordingly  sent  out 
their  long-boat,  with  two  men,  but  the 
rope  that  held  her  to  the  ship  unfortu- 
nately broke,  and  she  drove  away  with 
the  two  men  in  her,  who  were  never 


., 


15 


afterwards  heard  of.  They  undoubt- 
edly were  either  swallowed  up  by  the 
sea,  or  perished  of  hunger,  as  they 
were  then  twenty  leagues  from  shore. 
The  ship  sunk  in  less  than  ten  min- 
utes afterwards,  with  fifty-seven  men 
on  board,  of  whom  four  only  were 
saved  by  clinging  to  the  ropes  which 
had  been  thrown  out  to  them  by  the 
crew  of  the  Albion. 

From  the  four  men  who  were  thus 
saved,  they  learned  that  the  vessel, 
which  had  sunk,  was  a  pirate,  which, 
but  a  short  time  before,  had  attacked 
a  French  ship,  murdered  the  captain, 
and  such  of  the  crew  as  would  not 
agree  to  join  them,  and  that  they  were 
only  waiting  for  the  abating  of  the 
storm  in  order  to  attack  the  Albion. 
They  also  said,  they  were  forced,  with 
several  others,  to  become  pirates  ;  but 
whether  this  was  true  or  false,  they 


16  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

behaved  with  great  propriety  during 
the  remainder  of  the  voyage. 

On  the  28th  of  May  they  made  the 
Canaries,  and  saw  the  peak  of  Ten- 
eriffe.  On  the  4th  of  July,  they  an- 
chored in  Carlisle  Bay,  Barbadoes, 
after  a  desperate  action  with  a  pirate, 
who  boarded  them,  but  was  beat  off. 
On  the  20th  of  July  they  sailed  for 
Jamaica,  on  the  1st  of  August  an- 
chored at  Nevis,  and  on  the  7th  of 
September  arrived  in  Port  Royal  har- 
bor. 

Finding  that  the  affairs  of  the  ship 
would  detain  it  about  half  a  year  in 
Jamaica,  Falconer  obtained  leave  of 
the  captain  to  go  in  a  sloop,  with  some 
of  his  companions,  to  obtain  logwood, 
at  the  Bay  of  Campeachy,  on  the 
South  American  coast ;  and  on  the 
25th  of  September,  they  set  out  on 
this  expedition.      For  six  days  they 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     17 

sailed  merrily  on  their  course,  with  a 
fair  wind,  towards  the  Bay  ;  but  on 
the  seventh,  the  clouds  darkened,  and 
the  welkin  seemed  all  on  fire  with 
lightning,  and  the  thunder  roared  with 
frightful  violence.  In  short,  a  dread- 
ful hurricane  approached.  The  sail- 
ors had  furled  their  sails  and  lowered 
their  topmasts,  waiting  for  it  under  a 
double-reefed  foresail.  At  length  it 
came  with  extreme  violence,  which 
lasted  three  hours,  until,  as  if  exhaust- 
ed, it  insensibly  abated,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  complete  calm. 

On  the  6th  of  October  they  an- 
chored at  Trist  Island,  in  the  Bay  of 
Campeachy,  and  sent  their  men  ashore 
at  Logwood  Creek,  to  seek  for  the 
logwood  cutters,  who  immediately 
came  on  board.  The  bargain  was 
soon   struck ;    and,    in    exchange  for 

rum  and  sugar,  and  a  little  money, 

2* 


18  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

they  got  in  their  cargo  in  eight  days, 
and  again  set  sail  for  Jamaica. 

During  the  homeward  voyage,  Fal- 
coner one  day  went  down  into  the 
hold  to  bottle  off  a  small  parcel  of 
wine  which  he  had  there  :  on  coming 
upon  deck  again,  wanting  to  wash 
himself,  he  went  into  the  boat  astern, 
which  had  been  hoisted  out  in  the 
morning  to  look  after  a  wreck.  Hav- 
ing washed  and  dressed  himself,  he 
took  a  book  out  of  his  pocket,  and  sat 
reading  in  the  boat ;  when,  before  he 
was  aware,  a  storm  began  to  rise,  and 
finding  that  he  could  not  get  up  at  the 
ship's  side  as  usual,  he  called  for  the 
ladder  of  ropes  that  hangs  over  the 
ship's  quarter,  in  order  to  get  up  that 
way.  Whether  it  broke  through  rot- 
tenness, it  being  seldom  used,  is  un- 
certain, but  down  he  fell  into  the  sea  ; 
and  though  the  ship  immediately  tack- 


19 

ed  about  to  take  him  up,  yet,  as  even- 
ing was  now  coming  on,  and  the  storm 
had  considerably  increased,  they  soon 
lost  sight  of  him.  For  some  time  he 
swam  boldly  in  the  direction  in  which 
he  expected  to  see  the  vessel,  but  at 
length  he  was  forced  to  drive  with  the 
wind,  which,  fortunately,  set  in  with 
the  current ;  and  having  managed  to 
keep  himself  above  water  for  about 
four  hours,  he  felt  his  feet  touch  the 
ground  ;  and  at  last,  by  a  great  wave, 
was  thrown  upon  the  sand. 

It  being  now  quite  dark,  he  knew 
not  what  to  do  ;  but  got  up  and  walk- 
ed as  well  as  his  numbed  limbs  would 
let  him,  and  every  now  and  then  was 
overtaken  by  the  waves,  which  were 
not  high  enough,  however,  to  wash 
him  away.  When  he  had  got  far 
enough,  as  he  thought,  to  be  out  of 
danger,   he  began   to    examine   what 


20  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

sort  of  place  it  was  upon  which  he  had 
been  thrown :  he  could  not,  however, 
discover  anything  of  land,  and  con- 
jectured that  it  was  but  some  bank  of 
sand,  that  the  sea  would  overflow  at 
high  tide.  He  now  sat  down  to  rest 
his  weary  limbs,  and  prepare  himself 
for  death,  which,  it  was  evident,  was 
now  staring  him  in  the  face.  At  last 
he  fell  asleep,  though  he  tried  all  he 
could  to  prevent  it,  by  getting  up  and 
walking,  till  he  was  obliged,  through 
weariness,  to  lie  down  again. 

When  he  awoke  in  the  morning,  he 
found  that  he  was  on  a  low,  sandy 
island,  surrounded  by  several  others 
of  the  same  description,  and  separated 
from  each  other,  about  half  a  mile  or 
more,  by  the  sea.  Finding  that  things 
were  thus  not  quite  so  bad  as  he  had 
anticipated,  he  became  a  little  cheer- 
ful,  and  walked  about  to  see  if  he 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     21 

could  discover  anything  that  was  eat- 
able, as  he  now  began  to  get  very 
hungry ;  but,  to  his  great  grief,  he 
found  nothing  but  a  few  eggs,  which 
he  was  obliged  to  eat  raw.  The  fear 
of  starving  seemed  now  to  be  worse 
than  that  of  drowning  ;  and  often  did 
he  wish  that  the  sea  had  swallowed 
him,  rather  than  have  thrown  him  on 
this  desolate  island  ;  for  he  could  per- 
ceive, from  their  flatness,  that  they 
were  not  inhabited  either  by  man  or 
beast,  being  only  resorted  to  by  sea- 
fowl.  To  complete  his  misery,  there 
was  not  to  be  found  one  drop  of  fresh 
water  on  the  island,  so  that  he  was 
forced  to  drink  sea-water  for  two  or 
three  days,  which  caused  his  skin  to 
peel  off,  and  made  him  very  ill.  At 
last  his  misery  so  increased,  that  he 
frequently  resolved  to  terminate  his 
existence,  but  desisted,  in  the  expec- 


22  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

tation  that  some  alligator,  or  other  vo- 
racious creature,  would  come  and  do 
it  for  him. 

One  day  he  discovered  a  bird,  call- 
ed a  booby,  sitting  upon  a  bush,  and 
ran  immediately,  as  fast  as  he  could, 
and  knocked  it  down  with  a  stick. 
Without  for  a  moment  considering 
whether  it  was  proper  food,  he  sucked 
the  blood  and  ate  the  flesh  with  such 
a  pleasure,  as  none  can  express  but 
those  who  have  felt  the  pain  of  hunger 
to  the  same  degree.  He  afterwards 
discovered  many  more  of  these  birds, 
which  he  killed.  Being  now  pretty 
well  off  for  food,  he  began  to  consider 
whether  he  could  not  with  two  sticks 
make  a  fire,  as  he  had  seen  the  blacks 
do  in  Jamaica,  and  at  last,  after  many 
trials,  happily  accomplished  it.  He 
then  plucked  several  of  the  boobies 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     23 

which   he   had    caught,    and    broiled 
them  as  well  as  he  could. 

At  night,  he  was  exposed  to  a  great 
storm  of  rain  and  thunder,  with  the 
reddest  lightning  he  had  ever  seen, 
and  was  completely  drenched ;  his 
clothes,  which  consisted  of  a  pair  of 
thin  shoes  and  thread  stockings,  and  a 
canvass  waistcoat  and  trowsers,  were 
thoroughly  wet ;  but  he  had  the  hap- 
piness to  find  in  the  morning  several 
cavities  of  rain-water.  Having  already 
suffered  so.  much  from  using  sea-wa- 
ter, he  now  thought  of  making  a  deep 
well,  that  he  might  have  water  contin- 
ually by  him.  He  took  a  piece  of 
wood,  and  pitched  upon  a  place  under 
a  bush,  where,  with  his  hands  and  the 
stick  together,  he  dug  a  hole,  big 
enough  to  contain  a  hogshead  of  wa- 
ter ;  then  he  put  in  stones  and  paved 
it,  and  got  in  and  stamped  them  down 


24  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

hard  all  round,  and,  with  his  stick, 
beat  the  sides  close,  so  as  to  make 
it  completely  water-tight.  But  the 
great  difficulty  was  how  to  get  the  wa- 
ter there  :  this,  however,  he  at  length 
effected,  by  means  of  a  sort  of  bucket 
made  from  a  part  of  his  clothing. 
Having  been  so  successful  in  this  mat- 
ter, he  now  felt  greatly  elated,  and 
thought  he  should  not  be  very  badly 
off  for  a  long  while  ;  for,  besides  the 
store  of  water,  he  had,  ready  broiled, 
forty  boobies,  designing  to  allow  him- 
self half  a  one  a-day.  Fortunately, 
he  remained  always  in  good  health, 
being  only  a  little  troubled  with  head- 
ache, from  the  sun  beating  on  his 
head,  having  lost  his  hat  in  the  water, 
in  falling  down  from  the  vessel's  side. 
For  a  time  he  remedied  this  as  well 
as  he  could,  by  gathering  a  parcel  of 
chicken-weed,   which  grew  in  plenty 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     25 

around,  and  strewing  it  over  the 
bushes  under  which  he  sat ;  but  at 
last,  finding  that  he  might  be  longer 
there  than  he  expected,  he  tore  off  one 
of  the  sleeves  of  his  shirt,  and  made 
himself  a  cap,  which  he  covered  with 
green  sprigs,  twisted  with  bark. 

By  the  time  he  had  been  a  month 
on  the  island,  his  skin  became  as 
brown,  by  constant  exposure,  as  if  it 
had  been  rubbed  over  with  walnut 
shells.  He  several  times  thought  of 
swimming  to  one  of  the  other  islands  ; 
but  as  they  looked  only  like  heaps  of 
sand,  he  felt  convinced  that  he  had 
got  the  best  berth,  so  contented  him- 
self with  his  station.  He  began,  how- 
ever, to  feel  very  lonely,  and  was  so 
wicked  as  to  wish  to  have  compan- 
ions in  his  misfortune,  and  every  day 
hoped  either  to  see  some  vessel  come 
that  way,  or  a  wreck,  where,  perhaps, 
3 


26  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

he  might  find  some  necessaries  which 
he  wanted.  He  used  to  fancy,  that 
if  he  should  be  forced  to  stay  there 
long,  he  should  lose  his  speech ;  so 
he  used  to  talk  aloud,  asking  himself 
questions,  and  answering  them.  If 
anybody  had  been  by  to  have  heard 
him,  they  would  certainly  have  thought 
him  crazy,  he  often  asked  himself  such 
strange  questions.  He  was  destined 
to  be  visited  by  companions  in  misfor- 
tune sooner  than  he  expected ;  but  I 
must  tell  you  how  this  happened  on 
some  other  occasion.  I  am  afraid  I 
have  already  detained  you  too  long 
this  evening. 

Oh  no,  Uncle  Thomas  ! 

Very  well,  boys,  to-morrow  evening 
I  will  go  on  with  Captain  Falconer's 
adventures,  and  we  will  see  how 
Frank  likes  this  sort  of  life  on  a  des- 
ert island. 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     27 

Ah,  but  Uncle  Thomas,  this  was 
not  a  nice  island,  like  Robinson  Cru- 
soe's !  There  were  no  large  trees  to 
make  a  canoe  of,  or  any  goats  ;  and 
I  don't  see  very  well  where  Friday  is 
to  come  from  ! 

I  understand  you,  Frank  ;  you 
would  like  it  only  if  you  had  the  choos- 
ing of  your  place,  with  plenty  of  con- 
veniences of  everv  kind.     Good  night. 


CHAPTER  II. 

UNCLE  THOMAS    CONTINUES    HIS    NARRATIVE  OF    CAP- 
TAIN falconer's  ADVENTURES. 

One  morning,  during  Falconer's 
residence  on  the  sandy  island,  of  which 
I  told  you  last  evening,  a  violent  storm 
arose,  which  continued  till  noon.  In 
the  meantime,  Falconer  discovered  a 
ship  laboring  with  the  waves,  and  hav- 
ing watched  it  earnestly  for  several 
hours,  he  at  last  saw  it  tossed  bv  the 
violence  of  the  tempest  completely 
out  of  the  water  upon  the  shore.  He 
ran  to  see  if  there  were  anybody  whom 
he  could  assist,  when  he  found  four 
men  (being  all  there  were  in  the  ves- 
sel) busy  saving  what  they  could. 
When  he  hailed  them  in  English,  they 
seemed  mightily  surprised  ;  and  asked 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     29 

him  how  he  came  there,  and  how  long 
he  had  been  on  the  island.  When  he 
told  them  his  story,  and  described  the 
barrenness  of  the  place,  they  were 
very  much  concerned  for  themselves, 
for  they  feared  there  was  no  possibil- 
ity of  getting  their  bark  off  the  sands, 
the  wind  having  forced  her  so  far ; 
and  began  to  bemoan  each  other's 
misfortunes.  To  Falconer,  however, 
their  mishap  afforded  a  source  of  se- 
cret satisfaction,  for  he  soon  found 
that  they  had  on  board  plenty  of  every- 
thing. 

They  now  set  to  work  in  order  to 
secure  such  provisions  as  were  in  the 
ship,  as  well  as  such  utensils  as  they 
would  find  useful,  including  a  fowling- 
piece  and  some  gunpowder.  They 
then  took  off  the  sails  from  the  yards, 
and,  with  some  pieces  of  timber,  rais- 
ed a  hut  big  enough  to  hold  twenty 
3* 


30  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

men,  under  which  they  put  the  beds 
which  they  got  from  the  bark.  It  is 
true  they  had  no  shelter  from  the  wind, 
for  the  bushes  were  so  low  they  were 
of  no  use;  but  for  all  this,  Falconer 
now  thought  himself  in  a  palace^  and 
was  as  merry  as  if  he  had  been  once 
more  at  Jamaica,  or  even  at  home  in 
his  own  country.  In  short,  when  they 
had  been  there  some  time,  they  began 
to  be  very  easy,  and  having  plenty  of 
food,  were  content  to  wait  patiently 
till  God  should  send  them  assistance. 
Though  they  had  plenty  of  fishing 
tackle,  they  found  it  of  little  use,  as 
they  had  no  boat  to  go  a  little  way 
from  shore  to  catch  fish  ;  they  there- 
fore set  their  wits  to  work,  in  order  to 
make  a  float,  and  at  last  they  hit  upon 
this  odd  project :  they  took  six  casks, 
and  tarred  them  all  over,  then  stopped 
up   the    bung-holes  with  corks,   and 


CAPTAIN   FALCONER?S    ADVENTURES.  31 

nailed  them  close  down  with  a  piece  of 
tarred  canvass.  These  six  casks  they 
tied  together  with  some  of  the  cordage 
of  the  vessel,  and  upon  them  they 
placed  the  moveable  hatches  from  the 
deck,  and  fixed  them,  and  made  the 
float  so  strong,  that  two  men  might  sit 
upon  it ;  but  for  fear  a  sudden  storm 
should  arise,  while  they  happened  to 
be  at  sea,  they  tied  to  one  end  of  it  a 
coil  or  two  of  small  rope,  of  500  fath- 
oms long,  which  they  fixed  to  a  stake 
on  the  shore.  Two  of  the  party  then 
went  out,  in  order  to  see  what  success 
they  should  have  ;  but  returned  with 
only  one  fish,  about  two  feet  long, 
something  like  a  shark.  Next  day, 
however,  they  were  more  successful, 
returning  with  two  of  the  same  kind 
of  fish,  and  a  young  shark  about  two 
feet  long,  which  were  dressed  for  din- 
ner, and  proved  excellent  eating. 


32  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

They  now  began  to  consider  what 
could  be  done  to  enable  them  to  escape 
from  their  confinement.  On  examin- 
ing their  ship  carefully,  they  found 
that  it  was  all  sound  ;  and  though  the 
violence  of  the  storm  had  carried  it 
considerably  beyond  the  reach  of  ordi- 
nary tides,  and  though  nearly  buried 
by  the  drifting  of  the  sand,  that  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  their  being 
able  to  launch  it  into  deep  water  once 
more.  They  therefore  set  determin- 
edly to  work,  and  after  sixteen  days' 
hard  labor,  they  at  last  succeeded. 

At  length,  on  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber, they  launched  their  vessel,  and 
designing  to  set  sail  on  the  following 
day,  they  resolved  to  celebrate  their 
deliverance  by  a  carousal.  They  ac- 
cordingly got  very  merry,  and  when 
their  punch  was  all  done,  they  went  to 
bed.     Instead  of  sleeping  in  the  tent, 


33 

however,  Falconer  remained  on  board 
the  bark,  while  his  companions,  as 
usual,  slept  on  shore.  During  the 
night,  one  of  the  sudden  storms,  so 
common  in  these  latitudes,  arose,  and 
tore  the  bark  from  its  moorings,  and 
carried  it  out  to  sea,  Falconer  all  the 
time  sleeping  soundly  below,  quite  un- 
conscious of  the  danger  to  which  he 
was  exposed. 

By  the  time  he  awoke  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  storm  had  so  much  abated, 
that  he  remained  unconscious  of  what 
had  happened,  till  going  on  deck  to 
call  his  companions,  he  found  that  he 
was  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  far  out 
of  sight  of  land. 

For  fourteen  days,  he  continued 
tossed  about  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds 
and  waves.  During  the  whole  time, 
he  saw  but  one  ship,  but  it  was  at 
such  a  distance,   and   bore    away  so 


34  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

fast,  that  no  succor  could  be  expected. 
At  length  his  vessel  was  driven  so  close 
in  shore  as  to  attract  notice.  He  was 
then  boarded  by  two  canoes,  contain- 
ing one  Spaniard  and  six  Indians,  to 
whom,  by  means  of  broken  French, 
he  explained  his  condition.  They  car- 
ried him  on  shore,  and  introduced  him 
to  the  governor,  by  whom  he  was 
kindly  received.  The  place  happened 
to  be  a  Spanish  settlement  on  the 
coast  of  South  America. 

By  the  kindness  of  the  governor,  the 
ship  was  once  more  fitted  out,  and 
manned,  to  go  in  search  of  Falconer's 
companions,  who  had  been  left  on  the 
island.  In  fifteen  days  they  reached 
the  island,  where  they  found  them  in  a 
most  pitiable  condition.  They  had 
consumed  all  their  provisions,  and  had 
no  means  of  getting  more ;  indeed,  for 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     35 

some  days  they  had  subsisted  on  the 
most  filthy  and  revolting  food. 

Having  received  them  on  board, 
they  again  set  sail ;  and  it  now  oc- 
curred to  Falconer  that,  in  order  to 
complete  his  equipment,  five  of  the 
men  who  composed  his  crew  had  been 
released  from  prison,  where  they  had 
been  confined  on  suspicion  of  piracy. 
A  thought  came  into  his  head,  which 
had  escaped  him  before.  He  consid- 
ered if  these  were  really  pirates,  being- 
five  to  four,  they  might  be  too  power- 
ful for  him  and  the  rest  of  his  crew, 
and  perhaps  murder  them.  One  day, 
as  they  all  dined  together  upon  deck, 
under  an  awning,  it  being  very  calm 
weather,  he  asked  the  five  men,  what 
was  the  reason  that  they  were  taken 
for  pirates  by  the  Spaniards.  At  first 
they  seemed  nonplussed  ;  but  one  of 
them,  named  Warren,  soon  recovered 


36  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

himself,  and  answered  for  the  others, 
saying  that  they  embarked  on  board 
the  ship  Bonaventure,  in  the  Thames, 
bound  for  Jamaica,  whither  they  made 
a  prosperous  voyage  ;  but  after  taking 
in  their  cargo,  on  their  way  home, 
they  were  overtaken  by  a  storm,  in 
which  their  ship  was  lost,  and  all  the 
men  perished,  except  himself  and  four 
companions,  who  were  saved  in  the 
long-boat ;  and  that  as  they  were 
making  to  shore  to  save  themselves, 
they  saw  a  bark  riding  at  anchor  with- 
out the  port  of  Campeachy,  which  they 
approached  in  order  to  inquire  where 
they  were,  and  to  beg  some  provisions, 
their  own  being  gone.  On  entering 
the  vessel,  however,  they  found  but 
two  people  in  it ;  the  third,  jumping 
into  the  water,  swam  on  shore,  and 
brought  three  boats,  filled  with  Span- 
ish soldiers,  which  came  on  board  be- 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     37 

fore  they  could  make  off.  "  Make 
off ! ' '  said  Falconer.  <  <  What,  did  you 
design  to  run  away  with  the  vessel !" 
"No,"  answered  Warren,  with  some 
confusion ;  "  w«  only  intended  to  weigh 
anchor,  and  go  farther  in  shore,  that 
we  might  land  in  the  morning,  it  being 
late  at  night." 

The  fact  of  the  fellow  being  non- 
plussed now  and  then,  Falconer  did 
not  at  all  like,  but,  upon  considera- 
tion, he  thought  it  might  be  for  want 
of  words  to  express  himself  better ; 
so  he  took  no  more  notice  of  it.  In 
the  evening,  however,  Middleton,  one 
of  their  crew,  came  to  him  with  a 
face  of  concern,  and  told  him  that  he 
did  not  like  these  fellows'  tale.  "Why 
so  ?  "  said  Falconer.  "Because  they 
herd  together,"  answered  he,  "and 
are  always  whispering  and  speaking 
low  to  one  another.  If  a  foreboding 
4 


38  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

heart  may  speak,  I  am  sure  we  shall 
suffer  something  from  them,  that  will 
be  of  danger  to  us." 

Upon  this,  Falconer  began  to  stag- 
ger in  his  opinion  of*  their  honesty, 
and,  therefore,  he  and  his  friends  re- 
solved to  be  upon  their  guard.  They 
took  no  notice  of  their  conversation  to 
their  two  other  companions,  but  re- 
solved to  wait  till  night,  having  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  then,  as  they  slept 
together  in  the  cabin.  When  supper- 
time  arrived,  the  five  sailors  excused 
themselves  from  joining  the  rest  of 
the  crew,  by  saying  they  had  dined 
so  lately  that  they  were  not  hungry, 
which  gave  the  others  an  opportunity 
to  converse  together  sooner  than  they 
expected.  They,  therefore,  opened 
the  matter  to  their  two  companions, 
and  they  agreed  immediately  that  they 
were  in  danger ;   so  they  resolved  in 


39 

the  middle  watch  of  the  night  to  seize 
tnem  in  their  sleep.  It  had  been  pre- 
viously arranged  that  Falconer  and 
his  friends  were  to  have  the  first  watch, 
which  was  at^ight  o'clock  ;  the  oth- 
ers were  to  watch  till  twelve ;  and 
then,  in  the  third  watch,  between  one 
and  two,  Falconer  and  his  compan- 
ions had  determined  to  seize  upon  the 
pirates  as  they  slept.  It  having  pre- 
viously been  found  convenient  that  one 
of  the  pirates  should  form  part  of  the 
captain's  watch,  they  agreed,  before 
commencing  operations,  to  seize  and 
bind  him  fast,  and  to  threaten  him 
with  death  if  he  offered  to  make  the 
least  noise. 

As  soon  as  the  first  watch  was  set, 
one  of  the  party  proceeded  to  prepare 
their  arms.  In  about  half  an  hour,  or 
thereabouts,  Warren,  who  had  acted 
as   spokesman,   called   to   Hood,  the 


40  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

man  who  had  joined  the  captain's 
watch,  to  get  him  a  little  water; 
whereupon  he  went  down  immediately 
with  some  water  to  him.  As  soon  as 
he  was  gone  below,  Fafconer  drew  as 
near  the  hatchway  as  he  could,  to  hear 
the  conversation.  Hood  having  been 
employed  that  day  looking  over  the 
provisions,  that  he  might  know  how 
long  they  would  last,  the  others  had 
not  an  opportunity  to  disclose  their 
design  to  him.  As  soon  as  he  was 
gone  down,  he  could  hear  Warren  say 
to  him,  "  Hark  ye,  Frank,  we  had 
like  to  have  been  smoked  to-day ;  and 
though  we  had  contrived  the  story  that 
I  told  you,  yet  I  was  a  little  surprised 
at  their  asking  me,  because  then  I  did 
not  expect  it ;  but  we  intend  to  be 
even  with  them  in  a  very  little  time ; 
for,  hark  ye  —  "  said  he,  and  spoke  so 
low  that  he  could  not  be  overheard. 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     41 

Upon  which,  the  other  said,  "  There 
is  no  difficulty  in  the  matter ;  but  we 
need  not  be  in  such  haste,  for  you 
know,  as  we  ply  it  to  windward,  a  day 
or  two  can  break  no  squares,  and  we 
can  soon  bear  down  to  leeward  to  our 
comrades,  that  we  left  on  shore  ;  for 
I  fancy,"  added  he,  "that  they  have 
some  small  suspicion  of  you  now, 
which  in  time  will  sleep,  and  may  be 
on  their  guard  :  therefore,  it  is  better 
to  wait  a  day  or  two." 

"No;  we'll  do  it  to-night  when 
they  are  asleep,"  replied  Warren ; 
whereupon  there  were  many  argu- 
ments for  and  against  both  plans.  A 
little  while  afterwards,  Hood  came  up 
again  ;  and  after  walking  up  and  down 
for  some  time,  fixing  his  eyes  often 
upon  Falconer,  he  said  very  softly, 
"  If  you  please,  Mr.  Falconer,  I  have 
a  word  or  two  to  say  to  you,  that 
4* 


42  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

much  concerns  you  all."  "What  is 
it?"  asked  he.  "Why,"  answered 
the  other,  "let  us  retire  as  far  from 
the  scuttle  as  we  can,  that  we  may  not 
be  heard  by  any  below  deck."  So 
they  went  into  the  cabin,  and  opened 
the  hatchway  above,  that  Musgrave, 
who  steered,  might  hear  what  was 
said.  Hood  then  began  as  follows, — 
"My  four  companions  below  have  a 
wicked  design  upon  you  ;  that  is,  to 
seize  you,  and  set  you  adrift  in  the 
boat,  and  to  run  away  with  the  ves- 
sel ;  but  as  I  think  it  is  an  inhuman 
action,  not  only  to  any  one,  but  to  you 
in  particular,  who  have  been  the 
means  of  their  freedom,  I  have  thought 
it  best  to  give  you  warning."  Find- 
ing from  this  conversation  that  he  wras 
sincere,  Falconer  told  him  that  he  was 
provided  against  it  already,  and  in- 
formed him  of  their  design  to  seize  his 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     43 

companions  in  the  third  watch.  "  But," 
said  he,  "  they  intend  to  put  their 
project  in  practice  next  watch  ;  there- 
fore, I  think  it  will  be  necessary  to 
counterplot  them,  and  seize  them  at 
once."  "As  they  have  no  arms," 
said  Falconer,  "and  we  have,  we 
need  not  fear  them." 

They  had  several  debates  about  the 
proper  time  to  carry  their  scheme  into 
effect,  which,  unfortunately,  took  up 
so  much  time,  that  Warren,  distrust- 
ing Hood,  it  seems,  got  up,  and  steal- 
ing softly,  came  so  close  that  he  over- 
heard everything  that  was  said.  As 
soon  as  he  understood  what  was  going 
forward,  he  went  and  informed  his 
companions,  upon  which  they  resolved 
to  attack  the  crew  at  once.  In  the 
midst  of  this  consultation,  Falconer 
and  his  companions  were,  therefore, 
surprised  by  the  pirates,  who  seized 


44  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

them,  which  they  did  with  such  quick- 
ness that  they  were  all  confounded 
and  overpowered  before  they  had  time 
to  make  the  least  resistance.  They 
then  handcuffed  them  and  tied  their 
legs  together  so  as  completely  to  pre- 
vent their  moving. 

In  this  state  the  mutineers  left  them 
till  it  was  broad  day,  when  they  came 
and  unbound  their  legs,  and  gave 
them  leave  to  walk  upon  deck  ;  where* 
upon  Falconer  began  to  expostulate 
with  them,  particularly  with  Warren, 
as  he  seemed  to  have  a  sort  of  com- 
mand over  the  others.  "  And  what," 
asked  he,  "  do  you  intend  to  do  with 
us,  now  you  have  secured  us  ?  '' 
"Bo  with  you?  why,  by-and-bye, 
we  intend  to  put  you  into  the  boat, 
and  turn  you  adrift ;  but,  for  that 
Hood,  we  '11  murder  him  without 
mercy  !      The  scoundrel !    to  betray 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     45 

us  !  But  as  you  have  not  so  much  in- 
jured us,  we  '11  put  you  immediately 
into  the  boat,  with  a  week's  provis- 
ions, and  a  small  sail,  and  you  shall 
seek  your  fortune,  as  I  suppose  you 
would  have  done  by  us."  "  No," 
answered  Falconer,  "  we  only  de- 
signed to  confine  you  till  we  came  to 
Jamaica,  and  there  to  have  given  you 
your  liberty  to  go  where  you  thought 
fit.  Put  us  ashore  on  any  land  that 
belongs  to  the  English,  and  we  will 
think  you  have  not  done  us  an  in- 
jury/' "  No,"  said  he,  "  we  must 
go  to  meet  our  captain  and  fifty  men, 
upon  the  mainland  of  Yucatan,  where 
our  vessel  Was  stranded.  Our  first 
design,"  continued  he,  "when  we 
were  taken  in  our  boat,  was  to  get  us 
a  vessel  to  go  buccaneering,  which 
we  had  done  at  Campeachy,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  Indian  who  swam  on 


/ 

CAPTAIN   FALCONER'S    ADVENTURES.  47 

shore,  unknown  to  us,  and  brought 
help  too  soon." 

When  the  conspirators  had  got 
everything  ready,  that  is  to  say,  a 
Darrel  of  biscuit,  another  of  water, 
about  half  a  dozen  pieces  of  beef,  and 
as  much  pork,  a  small  kettle,  and  a 
tinder-box,  and  were  about  to  commit 
their  unfortunate  companions  to  the 
mercy  of  the  sea,  a  sudden  accident 
changed  the  face  of  affairs. 

Before  they  departed,  the  mutineers 
determined  to  let  them  witness  the 
de&th  of  Hood.  Warren,  therefore, 
ordered  him  to  be  tied  to  the  mast  of 
the  vessel,  and  loaded  a  pistol  to 
shoot  him  through  the  head,  not 
knowing  that  it  was  charged  before. 
They  all  entreated  for  the  poor  fellow, 
and  he  himself  fell  upon  his  knees, 
and  begged  them  to  spare  him ;  but 
Warren  swore   bitterly  that  nothing 


48  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

should  save  him  :  with  these  words  he 
cocked  his  pistol  and  levelled  it  at 
Hood,  but  in  firing,  it  split  into  sev- 
eral pieces,  and  one  struck  Warren 
into  the  skull  so  deep,  that  he  fell 
upon  deck.  One  of  the  bullets  grazed 
the  side  of  Falconer's  temple,  and  did 
but  just  break  the  skin  :  Hood,  how- 
ever, escaped  unhurt ;  but  he  was  so 
alarmed  at  the  noise  of  the  pistol,  that 
he  broke  the  cords  which  tied  him. 
Finding  himself  unhurt,  he  ran  to 
Falconer  and  his  companions  and  un- 
bound their  arms,  unperceived  by  the 
other  two,  who  were  busy  about  their 
unfortunate  companion.  Before  the 
man  that  steered  could  come  to  their 
assistance,  Hood  had  unbound  Fal- 
coner, and  stopped  the  interference  of 
the  steersman  by  giving  him  a  blow 
with  his  fist,  that  knocked  him  down. 
In  the  meantime,  the  rest  of  the  crew 


CAPTAIN  FALCONER'S  ADVENTURES.     49 

were  released,  and  they  speedily 
secured  the  other  two  pirates. 

After  they  had  bound  them  in  turn, 
they  went  to  see  what  assistance  could 
be  given  to  Warren,  when  they  found 
that  a  piece  of  the  barrel  of  the  pistol 
had  sunk  into  his  skull,  and  that  he 
was  just  expiring.  "  You  have  over- 
powered us,"  said  he,  **■  and  I  see  the 
hand  of  Heaven  is  in  it.  I  was  born 
of  good,  honest  parents,  whose  steps  if 
I  had  followed,  would  have  made  my 
conscience  easy  at  this  time ;  but  I 
forsook  all  religion,  and  now,  too  late, 
I  find  that  to  dally  with  Heaven  is 
fooling  one's  self:  but  yet,  in  this  one 
moment  of  my  life  which  is  left,  I 
heartily  repent  of  all  my  past  crimes. " 
With  that  he  crossed  himself  and  ex- 
pired. 

Falconer  and  his  companions  now 
made  sail  for  Jamaica,  where,  after  a 
5 


50 


TALES    OF    SHIPWKECKS. 


variety  of  adventures,  and  being  again 
taken  by  pirates,  they  at  length  ar- 
rived. From  thence  they  sailed  for 
England,  which  they  reached  in 
safety. 


CHAPTER  III.  - 

UNCLE  THOMAS  TELLS  ABOUT  THE  WRECK  OF  THE 
VRYHEID. 

To-night,  boys,  I  am  going  to 
give  you  an  account  of  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  heart-rending  shipwrecks 
with  which  I  am  acquainted ;  the 
more  so  that  upwards  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  lives  were  lost,  in  all 
probability,  entirely  in  consequence 
of  the  obstinacy  of  the  captain. 

Four  hundred  and  fifty  lives,  Uncle 
Thomas  !  The  very  number  is  ap- 
palling. 

It  is  indeed,  John  ;  but  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  if  the  captain  had 
taken  the  advice  of  those  who  warned 
him  of  the  danger  into  which  he  was 
running,  he  and  his  crew  might  have 


52  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

escaped,  as  you  shall  hear.  The  ship- 
wreck I  refer  to,  is  that  of  the  Vry- 
heid,  which  took  place  near  Dover, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. 

The  Melville  Castle,  a  British  East 
Indiaman,  after  having  performed  the 
usual  number  of  voyages,  was  sold  by 
the  East  India  Company  to  an  agent 
of  the  merchants  of  Amsterdam,  trad- 
ing to  the  East  Indies.  She  was  car- 
ried to  Amsterdam,  where  she  under- 
went a  tolerable  repair  in  her  upper 
works,  and  was  new  sheathed  and 
coppered,  but  her  knees  and  timbers 
remained  in  a  very  decayed  state. 
Thus  patched  up,  the  Company  ten- 
dered her  to  the  Dutch  government, 
which  was  then  in  want  of  a  vessel  to 
carry  out  troops  and  stores  to  Bata- 
via.  A  surveyor  was  immediately 
ordered  on  board,  who  reported  that 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  53 

the  ship  was  in  perfect  repair,  and 
wanted  nothing  but  the  necessary 
stores  to  equip  her  for  the  intended 
voyage.  She  was  accordingly  fur- 
nished with  all  the  requisite  stores, 
was  painted  throughout,  and  received 
the  name  of  the  Vryheid. 

Having  received  on  board  the 
troops,  consisting  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  men,  the  flower  of  the  reg- 
iment, who  were  selected  out  of  nearly 
one  thousand,  to  form  the  second  bat- 
talion of  marines  in  the  service  of  the 
Batavian  republic,  the  ship  got  under 
way  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  No- 
vember, 1802,  and  proceeded  with  a 
favorable  breeze  till  early  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  following  day,  when  it  be- 
gan to  blow  a  heavy  gale  from  a  con- 
trary direction.  The  captain  imme- 
diately ordered  the  top-gallant  masts 
and  yards  to  be  struck,  when  the  ves- 
5* 


54  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

sel  appeared  to  ride  easier  than  be- 
fore. As  the  day  opened,  however, 
the  wind  blew  with  increased  violence, 
and  every  exertion  of  the  crew  to  ren- 
der the  ship  manageable,  proved  inef- 
fectual. 

The  most  serious  apprehensions 
soon  began  to  be  entertained  for  the 
safety  of  the  vessel ;  and  the  state  of 
the  ladies  on  board  was  particularly 
distressing.  Some  embraced  their 
helpless  offspring  and  wept  over  them 
in  speechless  agony,  while  others  in 
vain  implored  their  husbands  to  pro-* 
cure  the  means  of  landing  them  in 
safety  on  their  native  shore,  and  to 
give  up  the  voyage.  The  commander, 
Captain  Scherman,  was  himself  in  a 
very  trying  situation.  His  wife  was 
on  board,  with  an  infant  only  three 
months  old ;  and  her  affliction  was 
aggravated  by  being  surrounded  with 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  55 

so  many  females,  fondly  weeping  over 
their  little  ones,  and  earnestly  entreat- 
ing assistance  of  the  captain,  who  had 
the  utmost  difficulty  to  prevail  on 
them  to  leave  him,  so  that  he  might 
attend  to  the  duties  of  his  station. 

The  ship  continued  to  drive  before 
the  wind  till  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  the  storm  increased 
to  a  perfect  hurricane.  Soon  after 
that  hour,  the  mainmast  went  by  the 
board,  with  a  tremendous  crash,  and, 
in  its  fall,  swept  overboard  several  of 
the  crew,  besides  wounding  four  or 
five  others.  This  disaster  greatly 
augmented  the  fears  of  all  on  board. 
The  captain  himself,  the  admiral,  and 
the  other  officers,  now  seemed  to  con- 
sider their  lives  in  the  most  imminent 
danger  ;  for  though  they  were  so  near 
the  Kentish  shore,  that  they  could 
discern  objects  on  land,  yet  the  waves, 


56  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

which  then  rolled  mountains  high, 
totally  precluded  the  possibility  of 
their  receiving  assistance. 

In  this  emergency  they  hoisted  a 
signal  of  distress,  and  after  very  great 
exertion,  they  managed  to  bring  the 
ship  to  anchor  at  the  entrance  of  Hythe 
Bay ;  but  as  it  was  now  quite  dark, 
they  could  obtain  no  assistance  from 
the  shore,  though  the  wind  was  not 
quite  so  tempestuous.  By  the  cap- 
tain's orders  the  crew  were  plentifully 
regaled,  and  a  beam  of  hope  illumined 
every  countenance  ;  but,  alas  !  it  was 
but  of  momentary  duration.  The  ship 
was  found  to  have  sprung  a  leak  :  all 
hands  were  ordered  to  the  pumps ; 
and  while  they  were  thus  employed, 
the  storm  again  came  on  with  redoub- 
led violence. 

Universal  consternation  now  pre- 
vailed, and  the  piercing  shrieks  of  the 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  57 

women  and  children,  at  each  succes- 
sive blast  of  wind,  were  sufficient  to 
unman  the  stoutest  heart.  Every 
relief  that  circumstances  would  admit 
was  afforded  by  the  ship's  company 
and  the  troops,  to  the  unfortunate 
ladies,  many  of  whom  were,  by  this 
time,  clinging  round  their  husbands 
and  fainting  in  their  arms. 

They  remained  in  this  dismal  situa- 
tion for  several  hours,  during  which 
the  greatest  order  and  sobriety  reigned 
on  board,  till  about  six  o'clock  on  the 
succeeding  morning,  when  the  vessel 
parted  from  her  best  bower-anchor, 
and  drifted  towards  Dymchurch  Wall, 
about  three  miles  to  the  westward  of 
Hythe.  They  continued  to  fire  guns 
of  distress,  and  kept  the  signal  flying 
during  the  whole  of  the  morning.  At 
day-break,  a  pilot-boat  put  off  from 
Dover,  and  coming  near,  recommend- 


oS  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

ed  the  captain  to  put  back  to  Deal  or 
Hythe,  and  to  remain  till  the  weather 
became  more  moderate.  cc  If  you 
proceed/'  said  the  boatman,  "  all 
hands  will  be  lost ;  you  are  evidently 
unacquainted  with  the  coast,  and  if 
the  gale,  should  continue,  no  power  on 
earth  can  save  you."  The  captain, 
however,  conceiving  the  danger  to  be 
less  imminent  than  was  represented, 
neglected  this  advice,  hoping  that,  as 
the  day  opened,  the  wind  would  abate, 
when  he  should  be  enabled  to  put  into 
some  bay  or  port,  without  being 
obliged  to  comply  with  the  demands 
of  the  Dover  pilots,  or  pay  the  Downs 
fees  for  coming  to  anchor  there. 

The  pilot-boat  had  scarcely  left  the 
ship,  when  the  commodore  at  Deal 
despatched  two  boats  to  endeavor  to 
board  the  ship,  when  the  unaccounta- 
ble and  fatal  obstinacy  of  the  captain 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  59 

was  again  strikingly  displayed ;  the 
crew  were  ordered  to  let  the  vessel 
drive  before  the  wind,  and  to  pay  no 
attention  to  the  recommendations  of 
the  commodore.  The  boats  then  fired 
several  shots  as  a  further  signal  to 
bring  to,  but  these  were  equaljy  disre- 
garded. A  few  minutes  afterwards, 
one  of  the  boats  passed  close  under 
the  stern,  and  as  the  ship  had  lost  her 
mainmast,  desired  she  would  immedi- 
ately put  about  and  stand  for  the  first 
port.  But  to  this,  like  the  former 
solicitations,  they  gave  no  reply,  and 
the  gale  increasing,  they  soon  lost 
sight  of  both  the  boats.  The  ill-fated 
captain  was  now  in  a  state  of  the 
greatest  agitation,  and  bitterly  repent- 
ed his  refusal  to  take  a  pilot  on  board, 
but  it  was  now  too  late  ;  the  roar  of 
the  sea  was  terrific,  and  such  a  tre- 
mendous swell,  that  the  chance  of  any 


60  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

relief  being  afforded  from  the  shore 
was  completely  prevented. 

The  wind  now  blew  a  perfect  hur- 
ricane from  the  south  and  south-west ; 
the  signal-guns  they  continued  to  fire 
incessantly,  and  the  captain  twice 
attempted  to  put  the  ship  about,  but 
all  his  exertions  proved  fruitless.  She 
was  now  near  Dymchurch  Wall, 
where  the  coast,  for  the  space  of  above 
twro  miles,  is  protected  from  the  en- 
croachment of  the  sea  by  overlaths 
and  immense  piles,  and  is  further 
secured  by  large  wooden  jetties 
stretching  far  into  the  sea.  On  the 
first  of  these  jetties  the  unfortunate 
vessel  struck. 

In  this  desperate  situation,  with  the 
wind  becoming  more  and  more  bois- 
terous, the  captain  ordered  the  mizen- 
mast  to  be  cut  away,  and  all  the  wa- 
ter in  the  hold  to  be  started,  by  stav- 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  61 

ing  the  casks  ;  while  a  part  of  the 
crew,  under  the  direction  of  the  offi- 
cers, were  incessantly  employed  at  the 
pumps.  They  also  threw  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  ballast  overboard  ;  but 
in  spite  of  all  their  exertions,  the  dan- 
ger seemed  every  moment  to  increase. 
So  maddening  was  the  reflection  of 
what  might  have  been  their  situation 
had  a  pilot  not  been  refused,  that  the 
officers  could  not  refrain  from  re- 
proaching the  captain  with  having 
slighted  the  advice  of  the  English  in 
the  boats  :  he  appeared  to  be  deeply 
sensible  of  his  error,  but  it  was  now 
too  late. 

The  admiral  recommended  the  sheet 
anchor  to  be  cut  away,  which  was 
accordingly  done,  but,  notwithstand- 
ing this  precaution,  the  unfortunate 
ship  continued  to  beat  upon  the  piles, 
and  the  sea  to  break  over  her  with 
6 


62  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

such  violence,  that  the  men  were  no 
longer  able  to  remain  in  the  hold. 
The  pumps  had  now  become  so  com- 
pletely choked  with  sand  and  mud, 
that  they  were  rendered  totally  use- 
less, and  a  speedy  destruction  of  the 
vessel  and  all  on  board  appeared  to  be 
inevitable.  The  foremast  soon  after- 
wards went  over  the  ship's  side,  car- 
rying along  with  it  about  twelve  of 
the  crew,  who  were  soon  swallowed 
up  by  the  waves.  The  ladies  now 
began  to  prepare  for  the  worst,  and 
several  of  them,  for  greater  security, 
were  handed  to  the  bowsprit,  attended 
by  their  husbands.  The  others  chose 
to  wait  their  fate  on  the  quarter-deck, 
where  stood  the  miserable  Captain 
Scherman,  in  silent  despair  at  the  un- 
availing cries  for  assistance  of  those 
around  him ;     while   his    unfortunate 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  63 

wife,  in  all  the  bitterness  of  maternal 
anguish,  was  clinging  to  his  feet. 

About  eight  o'clock,  the  rudder 
was  discovered  to  be  unshipped,  while 
the  tiller  was  tearing  up  the  gun- 
deck,  and  the  water  rushing  in  with 
fearful  rapidity  at  the  port-holes.  At 
this  moment  most  of  the  passengers 
and  crew  joined  in  solemn  prayer  to 
the  Almighty ;  and  while  engaged  in 
this  act  of  devotion,  the  sea,  foaming 
dreadfully,  made  a  breach  completely 
over  them,  so  that  they  were  obliged 
to  exert  every  effort  to  prevent  their 
being  swept  out  of  the  ship.  From 
the  uncommon  fury  and  roaring  of  the 
waves,  the  signal-guns,  which  they 
continued  to  fire  from  time  to  time, 
could  scarcely  be  heard  even  on 
board  ;  and  no  hope  remained  of  their 
obtaining  assistance  from  the  shore. 
As  a  last  expedient,  the  captain  gave 


64  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

orders  to  cut  away  the  anchors  from 
the  bows,  when  a  violent  swell  imme- 
diately parted  them,  and  the  ship 
drifted  with  irresistible  force  farther 
on  the  piles. 

The  morning  was  unusually  dark, 
and  to  aggravate  the  horrors  of  the 
terrific  scene,  the  ship  was  not  more 
than  four  or  five  cables'  lengths  from 
the  shore  ;  so  that  the  crew  could  see 
that  there  were  several  people  on  the 
Wall,  but  who  were  unable  to  afford 
them  any  assistance.  It  was  now  half 
past  eight,  when  a  tremendous  sea 
dashed  with  such  force  against  the  ill- 
fated  vessel,  that,  after  rocking  like  a 
cradle  for  two  or  three  seconds,  her 
timbers  split,  and  she  immediately 
broke  in  pieces.  About  one  hundred 
and  seventy  persons  were  instantly 
overwhelmed  by  the  furious  element, 
and  not  one  of  them  ever  reached  the 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  65 

land.  The  wreck,  thus  torn  asunder, 
still  presented  nearly  three  hundred 
miserable  objects  clinging  to  the  vari- 
ous parts  that  remained  above  water  ; 
while  the  tremendous  noise  of  the 
foaming  billows  was  drowned  by  the 
piercing  shrieks  and  cries  of  the  hap- 
less women  and  children. 

At  the  earnest  request  of  the  admi- 
ral, the  jolly-boat,  which  was  hanging 
over  the  stern,  was  now  launched ; 
and  he,  together  with  the  colonel  and 
eight  females,  were  helped  into  it. 
They  had  not,  however,  proceeded  far 
when  a  dreadful  sea  broke  over  them, 
and  the  boat  instantly  disappeared. 
In  a  few  moments  the  colonel  was  ob- 
served endeavoring  to  support  his  wife 
above  water,  when  a  wave  over- 
whelmed them,  and  they  also  sank  to 
rise  no  more. 

As  the  ship  was  now  settling  rapid- 
6* 


66  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

]y,  each  determined  to  risk  some  ex- 
periment to  reach  the  shore.  The 
captain  proposed  to  his  wife  that  they 
should  make  themselves  fast  to  a  large 
hen-coop,  and  commit  their  lives  to 
the  mercy  of  the  waves.  A  few  of 
the  crew  having  cut  away  the  coop, 
they  with  great  difficulty  made  fast  the 
captain  and  Mrs.  Scherman,  and  after 
an  affectionate  parting,  lowered  them 
down  over  the  stern.  They  had  near- 
ly reached  the  Wall,  followed  by  the 
anxious  looks  of  those  who  had  re- 
mained on  board  the  wreck,  when  a 
large  piece  that  had  been  detached 
from  it,  was  violently  dashed  against 
them,  and  they  were  never  seen  to  rise 
again. 

Painful  as  this  spectacle  must  ne- 
cessarily have  been  to  the  remaining 
survivers,  their  attention  was  com- 
pletely absorbed  in  contriving  means 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  67 

for  their  own  preservation.  A  lieu- 
tenant, his  wife,  and  two  female  do- 
mestics of  the  unfortunate  admiral, 
still  remained  on  the  wreck,  and  the 
men  agreed  to  make  one  more  effort 
to  save  them.  Seizing  one  of  the 
hatches  which  had  been  torn  asunder, 
they  fastened  it  to  a  piece  of  the  quar- 
ter-galley, and  lashed  the  females  to 
the  planks,  while  the  lieutenant,  who 
was  a  good  swimmer,  stripped  himself, 
and  having  taken  a  rope  round  his 
waist,  the  raft  was  lowered  into  the 
water.  They  had  scarcely  been  a  few 
seconds  upon  the  water,  when  a  vio- 
lent gust  of  wind  overset  the  raft,  and 
every  soul  on  it  was  hurried  into  eter- 
nity. Thus  perished  all  the  officers 
and  females  who  had  remained  on  the 
stern  of  the  wreck. 

About  this  time,  the  bowsprit  was 
torn  asunder  from  the  other  parts  of  the 


68  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

wreck.  I  have  already  told  you  that 
many  of  the  females  and  officers  had 
taken  refuge  upon  it,  and  the  number 
of  persons  about  the  rigging  and  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  bows  was  now  above 
a  hundred,  who  were  driven  towards 
the  Wall  by  the  violence  of  the  surf. 
Those  who  were  upon  the  stern 
watched  the  progress  of  their  compan- 
ions with  the  utmost  solicitude,  and 
just  as  they  supposed  them  to  be  be- 
yond the  reach  of  further  danger,  a 
tremendous  sea  broke  over  them,  and 
whelmed  them  all  in  one  general  de- 
struction. 

The  surface  of  the  ocean  was  in- 
stantly covered  with  their  bodies,  and 
many  of  the  unhappy  creatures  had 
almost  reached  the  shore ;  but  wave 
upon  wave  succeeded  each  other  with 
fearful  rapidity,  and  finally  triumphed 
over  all  their  exertions.     Among  the 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  69 

most  distressing  instances  of  individ- 
ual suffering,  was  that  of  a  captain  of 
the  marines,  who  was  swimming  with 
one  hand,  and  with  the  other  endeav- 
oring to  support  his  wife  by  the  hair 
of  her  head  ;  till,  overcome  by  cold 
and  fatigue,  he  turned  round,  clasped 
her  in  his  arms,  and  both  sank  amid 
the  waves. 

The  wreck,  meanwhile,  was  gradu- 
ally disappearing,  and  many  of  the 
seamen  and  marines,  successively  seiz- 
ing on  various  timbers,  precipitated 
themselves  into  the  danger  they  were 
so  anxious  to  avoid  ;  but  it  may  natu- 
rally be  supposed,  that  after  so  many 
dreadful  examples,  those  who  still  re- 
mained on  the  wreck  should  not  be 
willing  to  attempt  similar  experiments. 
Of  these  there  were  now  not  more 
than  forty-five  on  both  parts  of  the 
wreck,   which   frequently  became   so 


70  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

entangled,  that  the  men  were  near 
enough  to  hold  a  conversation  with 
each  other.  Their  fate,  however,  was 
nowT  rapidly  approaching  to  a  crisis  ; 
from  all  parts,  the  planks  were  being 
torn  away,  and  each  succeeding  wave 
was  fatal  to  two  or  three  of  the  wretch- 
ed survivers.  At  length,  two  of  the 
seamen  determined  to  lash  themselves 
to  a  large  hog-trough,  and  endeavor 
to  reach  the  land  :  they  were  handed 
over  the  larboard  side,  and  after  a  mi- 
raculous escape  from  coming  in  con- 
tact with  a  fragment  of  the  drifting 
wreck,  they  fortunately  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  shore  in  safety,  being  the 
first  out  of  all  the  adventurers  who  had 
quitted  the  ship  that  were  successful. 
Their  success  greatly  contributed 
to  animate  the  exertions  of  those  whom 
they  had  left  behind,  and  who  instant- 
ly fell  to  work  to  construct  a   raft, 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  71 

which,  in  a  few  minutes,  was  suffi- 
ciently compact  for  them  to  make  the 
attempt.  To  this  frail  structure  did 
the  survivers  commit  their  lives  ;  and 
they  had  scarcely  got  clear  of  the 
wreck,  when  a  heavy  sea  struck  it 
with  such  violence,  that  it  was  dashed 
into  a  thousand  pieces.  The  situation 
of  those  on  the  raft  was  now  peculiarly 
awful,  from  the  numerous  fragments 
of  the  wreck,  which  were  floating 
about  in  every  direction,  and  by  the 
violence  of  their  motions  threatening 
instant  destruction.  They  continued, 
however,  to  drift  nearer  the  Wall, 
when  they  were  run  foul  of  by  a  piece 
of  the  wreck,  which  swept  off  eighteen 
out  of  the  thirty-three  who  were  upon 
the  raft,  and  wounded  most  of  the 
others  in  a  greater  or  less  degree ;  at 
the  same  time  they  were  driven  for- 
ward with  such  velocity,  that  it  was 


72  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

impossible  to  afford  any  relief  to  those 
who  were  struck  off.  About  ten  min- 
utes after  this  fatal  accident  the  sur- 
vivers  succeeded  in  reaching  the  long- 
wished-for  shore,  half  dead  with  fa- 
tigue and  the  severe  bruises  which 
they  had  received. 

Thus,  of  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  persons,  who,  but  a  few  days  be- 
fore had  left  the  city  of  Amsterdam, 
and  who  were  but  a  few  hours  before 
on  board  the  Vryheid,  in  full  health 
and  confidence  of  security,  not  more 
than  eighteen  escaped.  This  wretch- 
ed remnant  of  the  crew  of  that  ill-fated 
vessel  received  from  the  inhabitants 
of  the  adjacent  coast,  such  generous 
attention,  as  not  only  contributed  to 
their  recovery,  but  amply  relieved  all 
their  necessities.  The  bodies  of  the 
unfortunate  sufferers,  which  were  scat- 
tered along  the  coast  for  many  miles, 


WRECK    OF    THE    VRYHEID.  73 

were  likewise  collected,  and  decently 
interred.  The  bodies  of  Captain 
Scherman  and  his  wife,  and  many  of 
the  officers  and  their  ladies,  were  com- 
mitted to  the  grave  with  every  mark 
of  respect. 

Oh  dreadful,  Uncle  Thomas !  Poor, 
poor  Captain  Scherman  ;  what  shock- 
ing reflections  must  have  been  his  when 
he  found  what  fearful  effects  were  re- 
sulting from  his  obstinacy ! 

They  must  have  been  shocking 
indeed,  Frank.  Let  us  gather  wis- 
dom from  his  experience,  dreadful  as 
it  was,  and  learn  from  it  that  an  ob- 
stinate and  self-willed  adherence  to 
our  own  opinions,  in  opposition  to 
those  whose  experience  leads  them  to 
take  a  different  view  from  us,  is  not 
only  culpable,  but  highly  dangerous — 
how  dangerous,  in  this  instance,  may 
perhaps  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that 
7 


74  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

a  small  merchant  vessel,  which  left  the 
Texel  on  the  same  day  as  the  Vryheid, 
took  a  pilot  on  board  off  Margate,  and 
was  brought  safe  into  port,  without 
losing  a  single  hand  during  the  storm. 

Good  night,  boys ;  to-morrow  I  have 
a  long  and  interesting  tale  to  tell  you 
about  the  Mutiny  of  the  Bounty. 

Good  night,  Uncle  Thomas ! 


■ 


CHAPTER  IV. 

UNCLE  THOMAS  TELLS  ABOUT  THE  MUTINY  OF  THE 
BOUNTY. 

Good  evening,  Uncle  Thomas!  we 
are  come  to  hear  about  the  Mutiny  of 
the  Bounty. 

Very  well,  boys,  it  is  a  long  story, 
so  I  shall  begin  at  once. 

In  the  year  1787,  it  having  been 
represented  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment, that  the  introduction  of  the 
Bread-fruit  tree  into  the  West  India 
islands  would  be  of  great  benefit  to 
the  inhabitants,  a  vessel  was  fitted  up, 
in  the  most  commodious  manner,  for 
the  reception  of  the  plants,  and  placed 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
Bligh,  who  had  previously  sailed  with 
Captain   Cook   on   his  voyage  round 


76  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

the  world.  Her  crew  consisted  of 
thirty-four  persons,  besides  two  intel- 
ligent botanists,  who  were  added  to 
the  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  man- 
aging the  plants  during  the  voyage, 
as  well  as  undertaking  their  trans- 
plantation on  board  the  vessel,  and  on 
their  arrival  at  the  place  of  destina- 
tion. 

On  the  23d  December,  the  Bounty 
sailed  from  Spithead,  and  on  the  26th 
encountered  a  severe  storm  from  the 
eastward,  which  continued  for  three 
days,  during  which  the  ship  suffered 
considerably.  They  therefore  found 
it  necessary  to  touch  at  Teneriffe,  in 
order  to  refit.  Having  put  everything 
to  rights,  they  again  sailed,  on  the  10th 
January,  1788. 

For  nearly  a  month  they  struggled 
hard  against  the  tempestuous  weather 
which  they  encountered  on  their  at 


MUTINY   OF    THE   BOUNTY.  77 

tempts  to  reach  the  Society  Islands, 
where  the  plants  were  to  be  procured, 
by  the  route  of  Cape  Horn,  but  at 
length,  finding  all  their  efforts  ineffec- 
tual, they  bore  away  for  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  where  they  once  more 
found  it  necessary  to  replenish  their 
stock  of  provisions  and  water. 

At  length,  on  the  26th  of  October, 
they  came  to  anchor  in  Matavai  Bay, 
in  the  island  of  Otaheite.  The  ship 
was  soon  crowded  by  natives,  and  two 
messengers  arrived  from  Otoo,  the 
chief  of  Matavai,  each  bringing  a 
small  pig  and  a  young  plantain-tree, 
as  a  token  of  friendship.  Captain 
Bligh  now  went  on  shore,  accompa- 
nied by  a  chief  named  Poeenoo,  and 
was  everywhere  received  in  the  most 
friendly  manner,  the  women  clothing 
him  in  the  Otaheitan  fashion,  and  af- 
terwards accompanying  him  to  the 
7* 


78  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

boat.  In  a  few  days  the  most  friendly 
relations  were  established  with  the  na- 
tives, and  presents  of  small  articles 
were  bestowed  on  the  chief,  who  was 
told  that  the  king  of  England  had 
sent  him  these  on  account  of  the  kind- 
ness of  his  people  to  Captain  Cook,  as 
well  as  from  a  desire  to  serve  him  and 
his  countrymen.  At  the  same  time  he 
was  asked  if  there  was  nothing  he 
would  like  to  send  to  the  king  in  re- 
turn. "Yes,"  said  he,  "I  will  send 
him  anything  I  have,"  and  immedi- 
ately began  enumerating  such  articles 
as  the  island  afforded,  and  among  oth- 
ers mentioned  the  bread-fruit.  He 
was  immediately  told  that  this  was 
what  would  please  the  king  very 
much,  and  a  number  of  young  trees 
were  promised  to  be  sent  on  board. 

For   upwards   of   five   months   the 
Bounty  remained  at  Matavai,  when, 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  79 

having  at  length  obtained  upwards  of 
one  thousand  plants,  she  set  sail  on 
the  4th  of  April,  after  bidding  a  most 
affectionate  farewell  to  these  kind  and 
simple-hearted  islanders. 

On  the  23d,  they  reached  the  island 
of  Annamooka,  where  they  remained 
till  the  26th,  carrying  on  a  brisk  trade 
with  the  natives  in  yams,  plantains, 
hogs,  fruits,  (fee.  From  thence  the 
ship  stood  northward  all  night,  and  at 
noon  on  the  following  day  they  were 
between  the  islands  of  Tofoa  and  Ko- 
too. 

So  far  the  voyage  had  been  one  of 
uninterrupted  prosperity.  They  had 
hitherto  succeeded  in  the  object  of 
their  mission,  and  to  all  appearance  it 
was  likely  to  result  in  the  most  com- 
plete success.  These  fair  prospects 
were,  however,  destined  to  be  sudden- 
ly overclouded    by  one   of  the   most 


iu^y 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  81 

systematic,  as  well  as  cautious  and 
deliberate  mutinies,  upon  record. 

About  sunrise  of  the  morning  of  the 
28th  April,  Captain  Bligh  was  awoke 
by  Fletcher  Christian,  one  of  the 
mates,  and  three  others,  who  tied  his 
hands  behind  his  back,  and  threatened 
him  with  instant  death  if  he  spoke  or 
made  the  least  resistance.  They  then 
pulled  him  out  of  bed,  forced  him  on 
deck  in  his  shirt,  and  placed  him  un- 
der a  guard  with  Christian,  who 
seemed  to  be  the  ringleader  at  their 
head.  To  all  his  entreaties  and  en- 
quiries as  to  the  reason  for  this  vio- 
lence, their  only  answer  was  a  com- 
mand to  hold  his  tongue,  with  threats 
of  having  his  brains  blown  out  if  he 
did  not  instantly  comply. 

The  mutineers  then  ordered  the 
boatswain  to  hoist  the  launch  out,  and 
several   of  the  officers  were   ordered 


82  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

into  it.  As  Captain  Bligh  now  saw 
the  fate  that  awaited  him  and  the  ob- 
noxious members  of  his  crew,  he  once 
more  made  an  effort  to  reason  with 
those  around  him,  but  was  immediate- 
ly checked,  and  again  threatened  with 
instant  death.  When  they  had  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  rid  of  such  of  the 
crew  as  they  disliked,  the  mutineers 
forced  the  captain  over  the  ship's  side 
into  the  boat,  and  after  subjecting 
their  victims  to  much  ridicule,  and 
making  sport  of  their  situation,  they 
at  length  cast  them  adrift  on  the 
open  sea!  As  the  vessel  sailed  away, 
they  could  hear  the  mutineers  shouting 
"  Huzza  for  Otaheite !  "  It  was  there- 
fore supposed  that  the  enticements  of 
a  delightful  climate  and  the  allure- 
ments of  a  continuance  of  the  life  of 
unrestrained  indulgence  which  they 
had  recently  led  on  that  island,  had 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  83 

tempted  them  to  the  commission  of  the 
crime  of  which  they  had  been  guilty. 

The  launch  (a  boat  twenty-three 
feet  in  length)  contained  nineteen  per- 
sons ;  and  the  quantity  of  provisions 
which  they  had  been  permitted  to  se- 
cure, amounted  to  only  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  weight  of%  bread, 
about  thirty  pounds  of  pork,  six  quarts 
of  rum,  six  bottles  of  wine,  and  twen- 
ty-eight gallons  of  water. 

Thus  abandoned,  Captain  Bligh  and 
his  companions  directed  their  course 
to  Tofoa,  in  the  hope  of  there  obtain- 
ing a  supply  of  bread-fruit  and  water. 
They  had  at  first  great  difficulty  in 
finding  any  of  the  natives  ;  at  length, 
however,  having  fallen  in  with  two  of 
them,  several  others  soon  collected, 
from  whom  they  obtained  a  small  sup- 
ply of  such  articles  as  they  wanted. 
By  degrees  the  number  of  natives  in- 


84  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

creased,  and  they  began  to  show 
symptoms  of  some  hostile  design;  but 
they  were,  for  the  time,  overawed  by 
the  undaunted  behavior  of  Captain 
Bligh.  As  the  evening  advanced, 
however,  they  continued  to  congre- 
gate, all  carrying  stones  in  their  hands, 
which  they  continued  knocking  to- 
gether in  token  of  attack,  and  on  the 
party  proceeding  to  embark  with  the 
provisions  which  they  had  accumu- 
lated, the  attack  commenced.  They 
had  all  got  in  safety  to  the  boat,  and 
one  of  the  men  jumped  on  shore  in  order 
to  untie  the  rope  by  which  it  was  fas- 
tened, when  he  was  instantly  knocked 
down  and  murdered  in  the  most  inhu- 
man manner.  Finding  that  there  was 
no  hope  of  lending  assistance  to  their 
unfortunate  companion,  they  hastily 
pushed  off.  Some  of  the  natives  got 
into   their   canoes,    and    gave   chase, 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  85 

throwing  the  stones  with  which  they 
were  armed,  with  such  power  and  ef- 
fect as  nearly  to  disable  every  person 
on  board.  Fortunately,  it  occurred  to 
Captain  Bligh  to  drop  some  clothes 
overboard,  when  tjie  canoes  stopping 
to  pick  them  up,  allowed  them  to  get 
a  little  ahead  of  their  pursuers,  and  it 
being  now  almost  dark,  they  gave  up 
the  chase. 

Seeing  that  there  was  now  no  hope 
of  relief  until  they  reached  Timour,  a 
distance  of  full  twelve  hundred  leagues, 
where  there  was  a  Dutch  settlement, 
Captain  Bligh  and  his  companions 
bent  their  course  across  an  ocean 
whose  navigation  was  then  little 
known,  exposed  as  well  to  the  dangers 
of  the  deep  as  to  famine,  their  little 
store  only  allowing  them  to  serve  out 
one  ounce  of  bread  and  a  quarter  of  a 
pint  of  water  per  day. 
8 


86  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

Captain  Bligh  has  left  a  very  inter- 
esting journal  of  their  sufferings  during 
this  long  and  hazardous  voyage,  from 
which  I  will  read  you  a  few  of  the 
daily  entries.  It  was  about  eight 
o'clock  at  night  oij  the  2nd  of  May, 
that  they  bore  away  from  Tofoa,  and 
having  divided  the  people  into  watches, 
and  put  the  boat  somewhat  in  order, 
they  returned  thanks  to  God  for  their 
miraculous  preservation. 

On  the  3d,  it  blew  a  violent  storm, 
and  the  sea  ran  so  high,  that  they  were 
obliged  to  keep  constantly  bailing,  and 
were  in  great  apprehension  that  the 
bread,  which  was  in  bags,  would  be 
spoiled ;  to  prevent  this  they  threw 
overboard  all  superfluous  clothes,  with 
some  spare  sails  and  ropes,  in  order  to 
lighten  the  boat,  and  emptying  the 
carpenter's  chest,  stowed  the  tools  at 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  87 

the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  put  the 
bread  into  the  chest. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th,  the  gale 
had  abated,  and  the  boat  was  running 
among  some  islands  ;  but  after  their 
reception  at  Tofoa,  they  did  not  ven- 
ture to  land.  Upon  examining  the 
state  of  their  bread,  they  found  that  a 
great  part  of  it  was  damaged  ;  but 
even  this  was  carefully  preserved  for 
use.  The  next  day  they  still  contin- 
ued to  see  islands  at  a  distance ; 
and  for  the  first  time,  to  their  great 
joy,  they  hooked  a  fish,  but  were  mis- 
erably disappointed  by  losing  it,  as 
they  were  trying  to  get  it  into  the 
boat.  They  were  dreadfully  cramped 
from  the  want  of  room,  which  they  en- 
deavored to  remedy  by  putting  them- 
selves at  watch  and  watch  ;  one  half 
sitting  up,  while  the  others  lay  down 
in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  with  nothing 


88  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

to. cover  them,  and  so  constantly  wet, 
that  after  a  few  hours'  sleep,  they 
were  scarcely  able  to  move. 

On  the  7th,  they  passed  close  to 
some  rocky  isles,  from  which  they 
were  pursued  by  two  large  sailing 
canoes,  but  in  the  afternoon  they  gave 
over  the  chase.  Soon  after,  it  began 
to  rain  very  heavily,  when  every  per- 
son on  board  did  his  utmost  to  catch 
some  water,  by  which  they  increased 
their  stock  to  thirty-four  gallons,  be- 
sides quenching  their  thirst  for  the 
first  time  since  they  had  been  in  the 
boat.  The  following  day  they  had  an 
allowance  of  an  ounce  and  a  half  of 
pork,  a  tea-spoonful  of  rum,  half  a 
pint  of  cocoa-nut  milk,  and  an  ounce 
of  bread.  The  afternoon  was  em- 
ployed in  cleaning  out  the  boat,  and 
getting  everything  dry  and  in  order. 
Hitherto    Captain   Bligh   had   issued 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  89 

the  allowance  by  guess,  but  he  now 
made  a  pair  of  scales  with  two  cocoa- 
nut  shells,  and  finding  some  pistol 
balls  in  the  boat,  which  weighed 
twenty-five  to  the  pound,  he  adopted 
one  of  these  as  the  weight  of  bread  to 
be  served  to  each  person  at  one  time. 
On  the  9th  they  experienced  a  vio- 
lent storm  of  thunder  and  lightning. 
They  collected  about  twenty  gallons 
of  water  ;  but  were  so  miserably  wet 
and  cold,  that  a  tea-spoonful  of  rum 
was  served  to  each.  The  weather 
continued  extremely  bad,  and  the 
wind  so  increased,  that  hardly  one  of 
them  got  any  sleep  that  night.  The 
morning  of  the  10th  brought  no  relief 
except  its  light.  The  sea  broke  over 
the  boat  so  much,  that  two  men  were 
kept  constantly  bailing  ;  and  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  the  boat  before  the 
wind  to  prevent  its  filling.  The  al- 
8* 


TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 


lovvance  was  now  one  bullet-weight 
of  bread  and  a  quarter  of  a  pint  of 
water,  at  eight  in  the  morning,  at 
noon,  and  at  sunset,  with  the  addition 
of  half  an  ounce  of  pork  for  dinner. 

The  weather  had  not  at  all  improv- 
ed on  the  following  day,  and  their  sit- 
uation was  becoming  extremely  dan- 
gerous from  the  constant  running  of 
the  sea  over  the  stern,  which  kept 
them  baling  with  all  their  strength;, 
but  at  noon  they  were  much  enlivened 
by  the  appearance  of  the  sun,  which 
gave  them  great  pleasure. 

On  the  12th  it  rained  towards  the 
evening,  and  they  again  experienced 
a  dreadful  night.  When  the  day 
came,  they  were  in  no  way  refreshed 
by  the  little  sleep  they  had,  as  they 
were  constantly  drenched  by  the  sea 
and  rain;  and  though  the  men  were 
shivering  with  wet  and  cold,  the  cap- 


MUTINY    OF    THE   BOUNTY.  91 

tain  was  under  the  disagreeable  ne- 
cessity of  informing  them,  that  he 
could  no  longer  afford  them  the  scanty 
pittance  of  a  tea-spoonful  of  rum. 

The  stormy  weather  and  heavy  seas 
continued  unabated  on  the  13th  and 
14th,  and  on  these  days  they  saw  dis- 
tant land  and  passed  several  islands, 
the  sight  of  which  increased,  rather 
than  alleviated  the  misery  of  their  sit- 
uation ;  as  an  attempt  to  procure  re- 
lief was  considered  to  be  attended 
with  so  much  danger,  that  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  remain  as  they 
were,  rather  than  encounter  the  risk. 

The  15th,  it  was  still  rainy,  both 
day  and  night ;  it  was  so  dark  that 
not  a  star  could  be  seen  by  which 
steerage  could  be  directed,  and  the 
sea  was  continually  breaking  over  the 
boat :  this  continued  on  the  16th, 
when   they    passed    a    truly    horrible 


92  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

night,  with  storms  of  thunder,  light- 
ning, and  rain.  The  dawn  of  the  17th 
brought  no  relief;  and  the  suffering 
from  wet  and  cold  had  been  so  severe, 
that  they  were  obliged  to  break  their 
rule,  and  serve  a  tea-spoonful  of  rum 
to  each.  The  night  was  again  dark 
and  dismal,  and  nothing  but  the  winds 
and  waves  to  direct  their  steering. 

On  the  18th  the  rain  abated,  when 
they  stripped  and  wrung  their  clothes, 
which  greatly  refreshed  them ;  but 
every  one  of  them  complained  of  vio- 
lent pains  in  their  bones.  At  night 
the  rain  re-commenced,  with  thunder 
and  lightning,  which  continued  with- 
out intermission  till  the  21st,  when 
they  were  so  drenched  with  rain  and 
salt  water  during  the  whole  of  the 
afternoon,  that  they  could  scarcely 
see ;  and  on  the  following  day  their 
situation   was    extremely    calamitous. 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  93 

They  were  obliged  to  run  right  before 
the  storm  and  keep  a  strict  watch,  as 
the  slightest  error  in  the  helm  would 
have  instantly  caused  their  destruc- 
tion. During  the  night  the  misery 
they  endured  was  excessive,  so  much 
so  that  they  expected  another  such  a 
night  would  put  an  end  to  the  suffer- 
ings of  several  of  them  ;  but  on  the 
24th  the  wind  moderated  towards  the 
evening,  and  the  night  was  fair.  In 
the  morning  they  experienced  relief, 
from  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  for  the 
first  time  during  the  last  fifteen  days. 
As  the  sea  now  began  to  run  fair, 
Captain  Bligh  took  the  opportunity 
to  examine  their  stock  of  bread,  and 
found  there  was  sufficient,  according 
to  their  present  rate  of  allowance,  to 
last  twenty-nine  days,  which  was 
about  the  time  they  expected  to  be 
able  to  reach  Timor :  but  as  this  was 


94  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

uncertain,  and  it  was  possible  they 
might  be  obliged  to  go  to  Java,  they 
determined  to  reduce  their  present 
scanty  rate,  so  as  to  make  the  stock 
hold  out  six  weeks.  This  was  effect- 
ed by  continuing  the  same  quantity 
for  breakfast  and  dinner  as  usual, 
and  discontinuing  the  supper  allow- 
ance. 

At  noon  of  the  25th,  some  noddies 
came  so  near  to  the  boat,  that  they 
caught  one  of  them,  about  the  size  of 
a  small  pigeon.  This  was  divided, 
with  its  entrails,  into  eighteen  por- 
tions, and  distributed  by  the  following 
method  : — one  man  stood  with  his  back 
to  the  object,  while  another,  pointing 
separately  to  each  portion,  asked 
aloud,  "Who  shall  have  this  V9  to 
which  the  first  answered  by  naming 
somebody,  until  the  whole  number 
had  been  served.     By  this  impartial 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  95 

method,  each  man  stood  the  same 
chance  of  obtaining  an  equal  share. 
They  had  also  an  allowance  of  bread 
and  water.  In  the  evening  several 
boobies  came  near  them,  and  they 
were  fortunate  enough  to  catch  one 
about  as  large  as  a  duck.  This  they 
killed  for  supper,  and,  giving  the  blood 
to  three  of  the  people  who  were  most 
distressed,  the  body,  with  the  entrails, 
feet,  and  beak,  were  divided  into 
eighteen  shares,  and  distributed  as 
before ;  and  having  with  it  an  allow- 
ance of  bread,  the  whole  made  an  ex- 
cellent supper. 

On  the  28th,  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  man  at  the  helm  heard 
the  sound  of  breakers.  It  was  the 
barrier  reef  which  runs  along  the  east- 
ern coast  of  New  Holland,  through 
which  it  now  became  their  anxious 
object  to  discover  a  passage.      The 


96  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

sea  broke  furiously  over  the  reef,  but 
within  was  so  smooth  and  calm,  that 
they  already  anticipated  the  heartfelt 
satisfaction  they  should  experience,  as 
soon  as  they  should  pass  the  barrier. 
At  length  they  discovered  a  break  in 
the  reef,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
width,  through  which  they  passed  rap- 
idly with  a  strong  stream  running  to 
the  westward,  and  came  almost  im- 
mediately into  smooth  water. 

They  offered  up  their  thanks  to  the 
Almighty  for  his  merciful  protection 
of  them,  and  then,  with  more  content- 
ment than  they  had  yet  been  able  to 
feel,  took  their  miserable  allowance 
of  a  bullet-weight  of  bread  and  a 
quarter  of  a  pint  of  water  for  dinner. 
They  now  began  to  see  the  coast  very 
distinctly,  and  in  the  evening  they 
landed  on  the  sandy  point  of  an  island, 
where  they  soon  discovered  that  there 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  97 

were  oysters  :  they  also  found  plenty 
of  fresh  water.  By  the  help  of  a  small 
magnifying  glass,  a  fire  was  made ; 
and  they  discovered  among  the  things 
that  had  been  thrown  into  the  boat  a 
tinder-box  and  a  piece  of  brimstone,  so 
that  in  future  they  had  the  ready 
means  of  making  a  fire.  One  of  the 
men  had  been  provident  enough  to 
bring  with  him  from  the  ship  a  cop- 
per pot,  in  which  they  made  a  stew 
of  oysters,  bread  and  pork,  and  each 
person  received  a  full  pint. 

They  now  enjoyed  a  few  luxurious 
meals  of  oysters  and  palm-tops  stew- 
ed, without  consuming  any  of  their 
bread.  They  also  collected  a  quan- 
tity of  oysters,  which  they  put  on  board 
the  boat,  and  filled  their  vessels  with 
fresh  water,  to  the  amount  of  nearly 
sixty  gallons.  Upon  examining  the 
9 


98  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

bread,  they  found  about  thirty-eight 
days'  allowance  remaining. 

Being  now  ready  for  sea,  every  per- 
son was  ordered  to  attend  prayers  ; 
and  just  as  they  were  on  the  point  of 
embarking,  about  twenty  naked  sava- 
ges made  their  appearance,  and  beck- 
oned them  to  come  near;  but  as  they 
were  armed  with  spears  and  lances,  it 
was  thought  advisable  to  decline  the 
invitation,  and  proceed  on  their  voy- 
age. 

At  length,  after  a  variety  of  adven- 
tures, and  the  endurance  of  privations 
almost  unexampled,  on  the  11th  of 
June  Captain  Bligh  announced  the 
pleasing  intelligence  to  his  compan- 
ions, that  an  observation  of  longitude 
appeared  to  indicate  that  they  had 
passed  the  meridian  of  the  eastern 
part  of  Timor.  This  joyful  news 
filled  every  heart  with  exultation,  and 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  99 

all  eyes  were  intently  directed  to  the 
quarter  in  which  land  was  expected  to 
appear.  Evening  fell,  howeyer,  with- 
out their  being  able  to  discover  any 
trace  of  it ;  but  by  day-break  on  the 
following  morning,  a  cultivated  coast, 
finely  diversified  with  hill  and  dale, 
appeared,  stretching  in  a  wide  extent 
before  them. — This  was  Timor  ! 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  describe 
the  wild  tumult  of  joy",  the  intense 
and  inexpressible  delight,  which  filled 
their  hearts  at  the  sight  of  land ! 
Their  thoughts  rapidly  reverted  to 
the  varied  events  of  their  fearful  pas- 
sage, till  it  appeared  scarcely  credi: 
ble,  even  to  themselves,  that  in  an 
open  boat,  so  poorly  provided,  and 
under  circumstances  every  way  so  ca- 
lamitous, they  should  have  been  able 
to  reach  the  coast  of  Timor  in  forty- 
one  days  after  leaving  Tofoa,  having 


100  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

in  that  time  run,  by  their  log,  a  dis- 
tance of  three  thousand  six  hundred 
and  eighteen  nautical  miles  :  and  this, 
notwithstanding  their  extreme  dis- 
tress, without  the  loss  of  a  single  in- 
dividual. 

The  governor  of  the  island  received 
them  with  the  greatest  hospitality 
After  remaining  a  short  time  at  Ti- 
mor, they  proceeded  to  Batavia. 
Here  Captain  Bligh  was  seized  with 
a  fever ;  and  as  his  life  was  in  danger 
from  the  heat  of  the  climate,  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  island  without 
loss  of  time.  He  accordingly  sailed 
in  a  packet,  and  arrived  in  England 
in  March,  1790.  The  crew  were 
accommodated  with  passages  home  as 
opportunity  offered,  but  though  appa- 
rently all  in  good  health  when  Cap- 
tain Bligh  left,  they  did  not  all  live  to 
quit  Batavia.     The  hardships  which 


MUTINY    OF    THE    BOUNTY.  101 

they  had  undergone  had  so  under- 
mined the  constitutions  of  several,  as 
rendered  them  unable  to  support  the 
rigor  of  such  an  unhealthy  climate ; 
but  of  the  nineteen  who  were  forced 
into  the  launch  by  the  mutineers,  it 
pleased  God  that  twelve  should  sur- 
mount the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
this  unparalleled  voyage,  and  live  to 
visit  their  native  land. 

But,  Uncle  Thomas,  what  became 
of  the  mutineers  ? 

Another  vessel,  boys,  was  fitted  out 
by  the  British  Government  to  proceed 
in  search  of  them.  Several  of  them 
were  taken  and  brought  to  England, 
where,  after  being  tried,  three  of  them 
wrere  executed.  Some  of  the  others 
who  had  been  forced  to  join  the  mu- 
tiny were  pardoned.  From  the  state- 
ments of  these  men,  it  appeared  that 
quarrels  soon  sprang  up  among  them 
9* 


102  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

after  Captain  Bligh's  departure,  and 
several  of  them  suffered  violent  deaths 
— among  the  rest,  Christian,  who  you 
will  recollect  was  the  most  active 
among  them,  was  murdered  by  one  of 
the  natives.  The  death  of  Christian 
was  the  signal  for  a  general  rising 
among  the  natives,  who,  by  this  time, 
had  become  tired  of  the  English ; 
some  of  them  were  killed,  and  others, 
among  whom  was  a  man  named  John 
Adams,  escaped,  wounded,  to  the 
woods.  They  were  joined  by  several 
females,  to  whom  they  had  formed 
attachments,  with  whom  they  escaped 
and  established  themselves  on  what 
has  since  been  called  Pitcairn's  Island. 
For  twenty  years  nothing  was  heard 
of  them,  till  two  British  vessels,  hap- 
pening to  touch  at  the  island,  the 
crews  were  astonished  to  find  it  in- 
habited, and  more  so  when  they  were 


MUTINY  OF  THE  BOUNTY.       103 

accosted  in  their  native  tongue  by  the 
inhabitants. 

Matters  were  soon  explained.  They 
found  Adams,  a  fine-looking  old  man, 
of  nearly  sixty  years  of  age.  He  was 
revered  as  the  father  of  the  colony, 
and  ruled  with  a  paternal  sway  over 
his  little  kingdom.      He  died  in  1829. 

But  I  must  stop.  I  fear  I  have 
already  detained  you  too  long  to- 
night, boys, — So  good  night ! 

Good  night,  Uncle  Thomas. 


CHAPTER  V. 

UNCLE    THOMAS     TELLS    ABOUT     THE     LOSS     OF     THE 
KENT   EAST    INDIAMAN. 

Good  evening,  Uncle  Thomas! 
We  were  very  much  interested  with 
the  account  you  gave  us  of  the  Mutiny 
of  the  Bounty.  As  we  came  along 
we  were  thinking  what  a  shocking 
thing  it  would  be  for  a  ship  to  take 
fire  at  sea.  Do  such  misfortunes  ever 
take  place,  Uncle  Thomas  ? 

Yes,  boys,  they  do,  though  much 
less  frequently  than  one  would  expect. 
The  sailors  are  very  careful,  and  are 
prohibited  from  using  lights  after  cer- 
tain hours.  I  can  tell  you  about  the 
loss  of  a  large  East  Indiaman,  which 
caught  fire  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and 
was  completely  destroyed. 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  105 

Oh  !  do  let  us  hear  it,  Uncle 
Thomas  ! 

On  the  19th  February,  1825,  the 
Kent,  a  fine  new  vessel,  commanded 
by  Captain  Henry  Cobb,  bound  for 
Bengal  and  China,  left  the  Downs. 
She  had  on  board  a  crew  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  men,  including 
officers,  with  twenty  military  officers, 
three  hundred  and  forty-four  soldiers, 
forty-three  women,  and  sixty-six  chil- 
dren, belonging  to  the  31st  regiment, 
and  twenty  private  passengers  ;  mak- 
ing in  all  six  hundred  and  forty-one 
persons. 

The  Kent  proceeded  prosperously 
on  her  voyage  until  the  night  of  the 
28th  February,  when  her  progress  was 
arrested  by  a  violent  gale  from  the 
west,  which  gradually  increased  dur- 
ing the  following  morning.  So  vio- 
lent   was    the    storm,    that   at    every 


106  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

lurch  the  main  chains  of  the  vessel 
were  considerably  under  water,  and 
the  various  articles  of  furniture  were 
dashed  about  the  cabin  with  such 
noise  and  violence,  as  to  excite  the 
liveliest  apprehensions  of  danger. 

The  utmost  activity  of  the  officers 
and  crew  of  the  Kent  was  called  into 
exercise,  and  everything  was  done  in 
order  to  secure  the  safety  of  the  ves- 
sel. In  the  course  of  his  duty,  one 
of  the  officers  went  into  the  hold,  ac- 
companied by  a  couple  of  sailors,  in 
order  to  see  that  all  was  fast.  They 
carried  with  them  a  patent  lantern, 
and  seeing  that  the  lamp  burned 
dimly,  the  officer  took  the  precaution 
to  hand  it  up  to  the  deck  to  be  trim- 
med. Having  discovered  that  one  of 
the  spirit  casks  had  broken  loose  from 
its  fastenings,  he  sent  the  sailors  for 
some  billets  of  wood  to   secure   it ; 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  107 

but  the  ship  in  their  absence  having 
made  a  heavy  lurch,  the  officer  unfor- 
tunately dropped  the  lamp,  and  let- 
ting go  his  hold  of  the  cask,  in  his 
eagerness  to  recover  the  lantern,  it 
suddenly  stove,  and  the  spirits  com- 
municating with  the  flame,  the  whole 
place  was  instantly  in  a  blaze. 

So  long  as  the  flames  appeared  to 
be  confined  to  the  spot  where  the  fire 
originated,  which  was  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  water  casks,  hopes  were 
entertained  that  it  might  be  subdu- 
ed ;  but  no  sooner  was  the  light  blue 
vapor,  that  at  first  arose,  succeeded 
by  volumes  of  thick  dingy  smoke, 
which,  speedily  ascending  through  all 
the  four  hatchways,  rolled  over  every 
part  of  the  ship,  than  almost  all  hope 
of  saving  the  vessel  was  abandoned. 
"  The  flames  have  reached  the  cable 
tier!"  was  exclaimed  by  some  indi- 


108  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

viduals ;  and  the  strong  pitchy  smell 
that  pervaded  the  deck,  soon  confirm- 
ed the  truth  of  the  exclamation. 

In  these  awful  circumstances,  Cap- 
tain Cobb,  with  an  ability  and  decis- 
ion of  character  that  seemed  to  in- 
crease with  the  imminence  of  the  dan- 
ger, resorted  to  the  fearful  experiment 
of  ordering  the  lower  decks  to  be 
scuttled,  and  the  lower  port-holes  of 
the  vessel  to  be  opened,  for  the  free 
admission  of  the  waves. 

These  orders  were  speedily  execu- 
ted, but  not  before  several  of  the  un- 
happy passengers  had  perished  from 
suffocation.  So  dense  and  oppressive 
was  the  smoke,  that  it  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  any  person  could 
remain  long  enough  below  deck  to 
execute  the  captain's  wishes,  but  no 
sooner  were  they  accomplished,  than 
the  sea  rushed  in  with  extraordinary 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  109 

force,  carrying  before  it  the  largest 
chests,  bulk-heads,  and  other  weighty 
articles.  The  immense  quantity  of 
water  thus  introduced,  had  the  effect 
of  checking  the  fury  of  the  flames  for 
a  time,  but  a  new  source  of  danger 
suddenly  opened  upon  them  —  the  ship 
becoming  water-logged,  and  seemed 
in  danger  of  going  down. 

The  scene  of  horror  that  now  pre- 
sented itself  almost  baffles  descrip- 
tion. The  upper  deck  was  covered 
with  between  600  and  700  human  be- 
ings, many  of  whom,  from  previous 
sea-sickness,  were  forced,  on  the  first 
alarm,  to  flee  from  below,  in  a  state 
of  absolute  nakedness,  and  were  now 
running  about  in  quest  of  husbands, 
children  or  parents.  While  some  were 
standing  in  silent  resignation,  or  in 
stupid  insensibility,  to  their  impending 
fate,  others  were  yielding  themselves 
10 


110  TALES    OF    SHIPWRFX'KS. 

up  to  frantic  despair.  Some  on  their 
knees  were  earnestly  imploring  the 
mercy  of  Him  whose  arm,  they  ex- 
claimed, was  at  length  outstretched  to 
smite  them  ;  others  were  to  be  seen 
hastily  crossing  themselves,  and  per- 
forming various  external  acts  required 
by  their  particular  persuasion  ;  while 
a  number  of  the  older  and  more  stout- 
hearted soldiers  and  sailors  took  their 
seats  directly  over  the  powder  maga- 
zine,— hoping,  as  they  stated,  that  by 
means  of  the  explosion  which  they 
every  instant  expected,  a  speedier  ter- 
mination might  be  put  to  their  suffer- 
ings. 

All  hope  had  departed,  and  the  em- 
ployment of  the  different  individuals 
indicated  an  utter  despair  of  rescue. 
One  was  to  be  seen  thoughtfully  re- 
moving a  lock  of  hair  from  his  writing- 
desk  to  his  bosom,  and  another  officer, 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  Ill 

procuring  paper,  addressed  a  short 
communication  to  his  father,  which  he 
afterwards  carefully  enclosed  in  a  bot- 
tle, in  the  hope  that  it  might  eventu- 
ally reach  its  destination,  and  relieve 
him  from  the  long  years  of  fruitless 
anxiety  and  suspense,  which  the  mel- 
ancholy fate  which  hung  over  him 
might  awaken.  At  this  appalling  in- 
stant, when  all  hope  of  being  saved 
was  taken  away,  it  occurred  to  Mr. 
Thompson,  the  fourth  mate,  to  send  a 
man  to  the  fore-top,  rather  with  the 
ardent  wish  that  some  friendly  sail 
might  be  descried  on  the  face  of  the 
waters,  than  with  any  expectation  that 
it  would  be  realized.  For  a  moment 
the  sailor  who  ascended  threw  his  eyes 
around  the  horizon  —  a  moment  of  un- 
utterable suspense — and  then,  waving 
his  hat,  exclaimed,  "  A  sail,  on  the  lee 
bow !  "    The  joyful  announcement  was 


112  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

received  with  heartfelt  thanksgivings, 
and  answered  by  three  loud  cheers 
from  those  on  deck;  the  signals  of 
distress  were  instantly  hoisted,  min- 
ute-guns fired,  and  endeavors  made, 
under  three  topsails  and  foresail,  to 
bear  down  upon  the  stranger,  which 
proved  to  be  the  Cambria,  a  small  brig 
of  two  hundred  tons  burthen,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Cook,  and  bound 
to  Vera  Cruz,  having  on  board  twenty 
or  thirty  Cornish  miners,  and  some 
agents  of  the  Anglo-Mexican  com- 
pany. 

*For  ten  or  fifteen  agonizing  minutes, 
the  crew  of  the  Kent  were  in  doubt 
whether  the  brig  perceived  their  sig- 
nals, or,  perceiving  them,  was  either 
disposed  or  able  to  give  them  any  as- 
sistance. From  the  violence  of  the 
gale,  as  they  afterwards  learned,  the 
report  of  the  guns  was  not  heard,  but 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  113 

the  ascending  volumes  of  smoke  from 
the  ship  sufficiently  announced  the 
dreadful  nature  of  their  distress  ;  and 
after  a  short  period  of  the  greatest  sus- 
pense, they  saw  the  brig  hoist  British 
colours,  and  crowd  all  sail  to  hasten 
to  their  relief. 

While  the  vessel  was  approaching, 
arrangements  were  made  for  getting 
out  the  boats,  so  as  to  have  all  in 
readiness  so  soon  as  she  came  within 
a  reasonable  distance.  Before  hoist- 
ing out  the  boat,  it  was  filled  with  the 
officers'  ladies  and  the  female  passen- 
gers, and  as  many  of  the  soldiers' 
wives  as  it  could  safely  carry.  They  ^ 
hurriedly  wrapped  themselves  in  what- 
ever articles  of  clothing  they  could 
first  lay  their  hands  on  ;  and,  at  about 
half  past  two  o'clock,  a  most  mournful 
procession  advanced  from  the  after- 
cabins  to  the  starboard  cuddy-port, 
10* 


114  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

from  the  outside  of  which  the  cutter 
was  suspended.  Not  a  sound  was 
heard — not  a  syllable  was  uttered  — 
even  the  infants  ceased  to  cry,  as 
though  conscious  of  the  unspoken  an- 
guish that  was  rending  the  hearts  of 
their  parting  parents  ;  nor  did  aught 
occur  to  break  the  solemn  stillness  of 
the  scene,  save  in  one  or  two  instances, 
when  the  ladies  plaintively  entreated 
to  be  left  behind  with  their  husbands  ; 
but  being  assured  that  every  moment's 
delay  might  occasion  the  sacrifice  of 
life,  they  >  successively  suffered  them- 
selves to  be  torn  from  the  tender  em- 
brace  ;  and,  with  a  fortitude  which 
never  fails  to  characterize  and  adorn 
their  sex  on  occasions  of  overwhelm- 
ing trial,  were  placed,  without  a  mur- 
mur, in  the  boat,  which  was  immedi- 
ately lowered  into  so  tempestuous  a 
sea,   as   to   leave   them  only  to  hope 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  115 

against  hope,  that  it  should  live  in  it 
for  a  single  moment.  Twice  the  cry 
was  heard  from  those  on  the  chains 
that  the  boat  was  swamping  ;  but  He 
who  enabled  the  apostle  Peter  to  walk 
on  the  face  of  the  deep,  was  gracious- 
ly attending  to  the  silent,  but  earnest, 
aspirations  of  those  on  board,  and  had 
•decreed  its  safety. 

Although  every  precaution  was  ta- 
ken to  diminish  the  danger  of  the 
boat's  descent  —  a  man  having  been 
stationed  at  each  end,  with  an  axe, 
ready  to  cut  the  ropes,  in  case  of  any 
difficulty  occurring  in  unhooking  it 
from  the  tackle  by  which  it  was  low- 
ered— yet  the  extreme  difficulty  of  the 
operation  had  nearly  proved  fatal  to 
the  whole  of  its  precious  cargo.  Af- 
ter one  or  two  unsuccessful  attempts 
had  been  made  to  place  the  little  frail 
bark   fairly  upon  the  surface  of  the 


116  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

water,  the  command  was  given  to  un- 
hook :  the  stern  tackle  was  immedi- 
ately cleared,  but  the  ropes  at  the  bow 
having  got  foul,  the  sailors  there  found 
it  impossible  to  obey  the  order.  In 
vain  was  the  axe  applied  to  the  entan- 
gled tackle.  The  moment  was  incon- 
ceivably critical,  as  the  boat,  necessa- 
rily following  the  motions  of  the  ship, 
was  gradually  rising  out  of  the  water, 
and  must  in  another  instant  have  been 
hanging  perpendicularly  by  the  bow, 
and  its  helpless  passengers  precipi- 
tated into  the  sea,  had  not  a  wave 
providentially  struck  the  stern  and 
lifted  it  up,  so  as  to  enable  the  sea- 
men to  clear  the  tackle  ;  and  the  boat, 
being  dexterously  disentangled  from 
the  ship,  was  soon  seen  battling  with 
the  billows  in  its  progress  to  the  brig 
—  one  instant  like  a  speck  upon  their 
summit,  and  then  disappearing  for  sev- 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  117 

eral  seconds,  as  if  engulfed  in  the  hor- 
rid vale  between  them. 

The  Cambria  having  prudently  lain 
at  some  distance  from  the  Kent,  lest 
she  should  be  involved  in  her  explo- 
sion, or  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the 
guns,  which,  being  all  shotted,  after- 
wards went  off  as  they  were  succes- 
sively reached  by  the  flames,  the  boat 
had  a  considerable  distance  to  row. 
The  interval  of  its  leaving  the  Kent, 
and  its  arrival  at  the  side  of  the  Cam- 
bria, was  a  time  of  most  intense  in- 
terest ;  at  length,  however,  it  reached 
her  in  safety,  and  the  inmates,  one  af- 
ter another,  arrived  on  board. 

It  being  impossible  for  the  boats, 
after  the  first  trip,  to  come  alongside 
the  Kent,  a  plan  was  adopted  for  low- 
ering the  women  and  children  by  ropes 
from  the  stern,  by  tying  themtwo-and- 
two  together.     But  from  the  heaving 


118  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

of  the  ship,  and  the  extreme  difficulty 
of  dropping  them  at  the  instant  the 
boat  was  underneath,  many  of  the 
poor  creatures  were  unavoidably 
plunged  repeatedly  under  water  :  all 
the  women,  from  their  superior 
strength,  were  happily  able  to  endure 
this  rough  usage,  but,  unfortunately, 
several  children  fell  victims. 

Amid  the  conflicting  feelings  and 
dispositions  manifested  by  the  numer- 
ous actors  in  this  melancholy  drama, 
many  affecting  proofs  were  elicited  of 
parental  and  filial  affection,  or  of  dis- 
interested friendship,  that  seemed  to 
shed  a  momentary  halo  around  the 
gloomy  scene. 

Two  or  three  soldiers,  to  relieve 
their  wives  of  a  part  of  their  families, 
sprang  into  the  water  with  their  chil- 
dren, and  perished  in  their  endeavors 
to  save  them.     One  young  lady,  who 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  ±19 

had  resolutely  refused  to  leave  her 
father,  whose  sense  of  duty  kept  him 
at  his  post,  was  very  near  falling  a 
sacrifice  to  her  filial  devotion,  not  hav- 
ing been  picked  up  by  those  in  the 
boats  until  she  had  sunk  five  or  six 
times.  Another  individual,  who  was 
reduced  to  the  frightful  alternative  of 
losing  his  wife  or  his  children,  hastily 
decided  in  favor  of  his  duty  to  the 
former :  his  wife  accordingly  was 
saved,  and  four  fine  children,  alas ! 
left  to  perish.  One  fine  fellow,  a  sol- 
dier, who  had  neither  wife  nor  child 
of  his  own,  but  who  evinced  the  great- 
est solicitude  for  the  safety  of  those 
of  others,  insisted  on  having  three 
children  lashed  to  him,  with  whom  he 
plunged  into  the  water  ;  but  not  being 
able  to  reach  the  boat,  he  was  drawn 
back  again  into  the  ship,  yet  not  be- 
fore two  of  the  children  had  expired. 


120  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

One  man  fell  down  the  hatchway  into 
the  flames.  But  the  numerous  in- 
stances of  individual  loss  and  suffer- 
ing were  not  confined  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  perilous  voyage  be- 
tween the  two  vessels  :  one  man,  who 
fell  between  the  boat  and  the  brig, 
had  his  head  literally  crushed  ;  while 
some  were  lost  in  their  attempts  to 
ascend  the  sides  of  the  Cambria. 

As  the  day  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  the  flames  were  now  slowly,  but 
perceptibly,  extending,  the  gallant 
commanders  felt  increased  anxiety  for 
the  safety  of  the  remainder  of  the 
brave  men  under  their  charge. 

To  facilitate  this  object  a  rope  was 
suspended  from  the  extremity  of  the 
spanker-boom,  which  projects  from 
sixteen  to  eighteen  feet  over  the  stern, 
and,  in  such  a  large  ship  as  the  Kent, 
on    ordinary    occasions    rests    about 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  121 

nineteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  wa- 
ter. In  order  more  readily  to  reach 
the  boats,  and  to  prevent  the  danger 
of  their  being  stove  by  approaching 
too  close  to  the  vessel,  the  men  were 
directed  to  proceed  along  the  boom 
and  slide  down  by  the  rope.  But  as 
from  the  great  swell  of  the  sea,  it  was 
impossible  for  the  boats  to  retain  their 
station  for  a  moment,  most  of  those 
who  adopted  this  course,  were  either 
left  for  a  time  swinging  in  mid-air,  or 
plunged  into  the  sea,  and  perhaps  vio- 
lently flung  against  the  boat  as  it  once 
more  approached  to  their  rescue. 

At  length,  when  nearly  every  per- 
son was  removed,  and  when  those 
only  remained  whom  fear  had  so  over- 
come as  to  prevent  their  availing 
themselves  of  the  means  of  escape, 
even  at  the  urgent  request  of  those  in 
the  boats,  Captain  Cobb  quitted  the 
11 


122  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

ill-fated  vessel,  and  shortly  after  the 
boat  in  which  he  was  reached  the 
Cambria,  the  flames,  which  had  spread 
along  the  upper  deck  of  the  Kent, 
ascended  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning 
to  the  masts  and  rigging,  forming  one 
general  conflagration,  and  illumina- 
ting the  heavens  to  an  immense  dis- 
tance, until  the  masts,  one  by  one 
successively,  fell  like  stately  steeples 
over  the  ship's  side.  At  last,  about 
half-past  one  in  the  morning,  the  fire 
communicated  to  the  powder  maga- 
zine, the  long-threatened  explosion 
took  place,  and  the  fragments  of  the 
magnificent  Kent  were  instantly  hur- 
ried, like  so  many  rockets,  high  into 
the  air. 

The  Cambria  now  made"  all  sail  to 
the  nearest  port,  and,  though  the  vio- 
lence of  the  gale  continued,  she  arriv- 
ed at  Falmouth  shortly  after  midnight 


LOSS    OF    THE    KENT.  123 

on  the  3d  of  March,  when  her  unfor- 
tunate crew  were  received  with  the 
utmost  kindness  by  the  inhabitants, 
and  their  wants  instantly  attended  to. 

Were  those  that  remained  on  board 
the  Kent  all  lost,  Uncle  Thomas  ? 

No,  not  the  whole  of  them,  boys. 
Wonderful  to  relate,  the  flames  and 
the  explosion  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  crew  of  another  ship,  named  the 
Caroline,  on  her  passage  from  Alex- 
andria to  Liverpool,  who  immediately 
set  their  sails  and  bore  down  upon  the 
wreck.  They  were  fortunately  in 
time  to  save  twelve  persons  whom 
they  found  floating  about  on  a  mast. 
The  captain  of  the  Caroline,  with  the 
greatest  humanity,  remained  in  the 
neighborhood  all  night,  in  the  hope  of 
assisting  any  who  might  have  taken 
refuge  on  other  parts  of  the  wreck. 
In  the  morning  they  rescued  two  more 


124  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

of  the  unfortunate  survivers,  being 
all  that  they  could  discover,  from  the 
floating  masses  of  wreck.  But  the 
sky  beginning  to  assume  a  stormy  as- 
pect, the  boat  which  had  been  sent 
out  was  forced  to  return  to  the  ship, 
which  once  more  proceeded  on  her 
voyage. 

Was  rum  the  cause  of  this  sad  dis- 
aster, Uncle  Thomas  ? 

Yes,  my  boys,  rum  did  all  the  mis- 
chief. 

Then  we  will  have  no  rum  on  board 
of  our  ship,  when  we  are  men,  will 
we,  John  ?  for  it  is  of  no  use,  father 
says. 


MMUH 


CHAPTER  VI. 

UNCLE  THOMAS  TELLS  ABOUT  THE  WRECK  OF  THE 
MEDUSA. 

Good  evening,  boys.  The  tale 
which  I  am  going  to  tell  you  this  eve- 
ning, so  far  exceeds  in  misery  and 
crime  all  of  those  which  I  have  al- 
ready told  you,  that  it  is  almost  neces- 
sary for  me,  before  I  begin,  to  assure 
you  that  it  really  happened.  I  question 
indeed,  if  the  wildest  imagination  could 
have  contrived  to  conjure  up  such  a 
complication  of  disasters. 

It  must  be  something  very  terrible 
indeed,  Uncle  Thomas  ! 

It  is,  boys; — but  you  shall  judge 
for  yourselves.  On  the  restoration  of 
the  general  peace,  in  the  year  1814, 
11* 


126  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

the  French  possessions  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa,  which  had  been  taken 
by  the  British  forces,  were  agreed  to 
be  given  up.  An  expedition,  consist- 
ing of  a  frigate  and  three  other  vessels, 
having  on  board  nearly  four  hundred 
persons,  men  of  science,  artisans,  ag- 
riculturists, &c,  was  accordingly  de- 
spatched, in  June,  1816,  to  take  pos- 
session of  them.  The  naval  part  of 
the  expedition  was  entrusted  to  an 
officer  named  Lachaumareys,  who 
commanded  the  Medusa,  of  forty-four 
guns. 

In  consequence  of  the  ignorance  of 
the  officers  of  the  ship  of  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  coast,  the  Medusa  unfortu- 
nately run  aground  on  the  bank  of  Ar- 
guin,  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  After  in 
vain  trying  every  means  of  getting  her 
off,  and  finding  that  all  hope  of  saving 
the    vessel    was    useless,    they   took 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  127 

measures  to  secure  the  safety  of  the 
crew  and  passengers.  Finding  that 
the  boats  did  not  afford  sufficient  ac- 
commodation for  the  whole,  a  raft  was 
hastily  constructed ;  but  in  the  tumult 
of  abandoning  the  wreck,  it  happened 
that  the  raft,  which  was  destined  to 
carry  the  greatest  number  of  persons, 
had  on  board  the  smallest  quantity  of 
provisions. 

When  all  was  ready,  the  boats 
pushed  off,  towing  the  raft,  those  on 
board  assuring  the  passengers  on  the 
raft  that  they  would  conduct  them  in 
safety  to  land.  They  had  not  pro- 
ceeded above  a  couple  of  leagues, 
however,  when,  one  after  another,  the 
boats  cast  off  the  tow-lines,  and  left 
the  raft  to  its  fate,  each  striving  to 
make  off  with  all  possible  speed. 

By  this  time  it  was  discovered  that 
the  raft   was   completely  overloaded, 


128  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

and  the  articles  of  which  it  was  com- 
posed becoming  saturated  with  water, 
it  sunk  below  the  surface,  so  as  to  im- 
merse every  person  on  board  nearly 
up  to  the  middle  in  water.  Find- 
ing themselves  thus  abandoned,  and 
threatened  every  instant  with  being 
swallowed  up  in  the  deep,  the  most 
horrible  ideas  took  possession  of  their 
imaginations  ;  they  gave  themselves 
up  to  despair.  With  some  difficulty, 
the  officers  who  were  on  board  suc- 
ceeded in  restoring  their  men  to  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  tranquillity.  Their  own 
confidence  had  well  nigh  given  way 
when  they  found  that  they  were  in  the 
middle  of  the  ocean,  without  chart  or 
compass  on  the  raft.  It  was  discov- 
ered that  one  of  the  men  had  preserved 
a  pocket-compass,  but  in  their  anx- 
iety to  secure  this  invaluable  little  in- 
strument, it  fell  from  the  hands  of  the 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  129 

person  who  held  it,  and  disappeared 
between  the  openings  of  the  raft. 

As  night  came  on,  the  breeze  fresh- 
ened and  the  sea  began  to  swell.  By 
midnight  the  weather  had  become  very 
stormy,  the  waves  breaking  over  them 
in  every  direction.  During  the  whole 
night  the  unhappy  wretches  struggled 
against  death,  holding  firmly  by  the 
spars  to  prevent  themselves  from  being 
swept  away,  tossed  by  the  waves  from 
one  end  to  the  other,  sometimes  pre- 
cipitated into  the  sea,  floating  between 
life  and  death;  "mourning  over  our 
misfortunes,"  says  one  of  the  survi- 
vers,  "certain  of  perishing,  yet  con- 
tending for  the  remains  of  existence 
with  that  cruel  element  which  threat- 
ened to  swallow  us  up.  Such  was 
our  situation  till  break  of  day  —  horri- 
ble situation !     How  shall  we  convey 


130  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

an  idea  of  it  which  will  not  fall  far 
short  of  the  reality  ?  " 

In  the  morning  the  wind  abated  and 
the  sea  subsided  a  little,  but  the  day- 
light displayed  a  scene  scarcely  less 
appalling  than  the  storm  of  the  night. 
Ten  or  twelve  of  the  unhappy  men 
had  their  limbs  jammed  between  the 
spars  of  the  raft,  and  exhausted  by  fa- 
tigue and  hunger,  and  unable  to  extri- 
cate themselves,  had  perished  in  this 
situation.  Several  had  been  swept 
away  altogether,  so  that  when  they 
came  to  count  their  number,  it  was 
found  that  twenty  had  disappeared. 

The  day  turned  out  beautiful,  and 
they  flattered  themselves  with  the  hope 
that  in  the  course  of  it  some  of  the 
boats  would  come  to  their  rescue. 
Evening  approached,  however,  and 
none  was  to  be  seen.  As  the  night 
advanced,  the  storm  again  rose  ;  the 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  131 

waves  broke  over  them,  many  were 
swept  away,  and  the  crowding  to  the 
centre  of  the  raft  became  so  oppres- 
sive, that  several  were  crushed  to 
death.  Firmly  persuaded  that  they 
werfc  on  the  point  of  being  swallowed 
up  by  the  sea,  the  soldiers  and  sailors, 
abandoning  themselves  to  despair,  re- 
solved to  sooth  their  last  moments  by 
drinking  to  intoxication.  They  bored 
a  hole  in  the  head  of  a  large  cask,  and 
continued  to  suck  till  the  salt  water, 
mixing  with  the  wine,  rendered  it  no 
longer  palatable.  Excited  by  the  wine 
acting  on  empty  stomachs  and  on 
bodies  weakened  by  hunger  and  fa- 
tigue, they  now  became  deaf  to  the 
voice  of  reason,  and  openly  declared 
their  intention  to  murder  their  officers 
and  to  cut  the  ropes  which  bound  the 
raft  together.  One  wretch,  indeed, 
seizing   an   axe,    actually   began   the 


132  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

dreadful  work.  The  officers  rushed 
forward,  and  their  interference  was  a 
signal  for  a  general  revolt.  The  mu- 
tineers, for  the  most  part,  were  fortu- 
nately badly  armed,  and  the  sabres 
and  bayonets  of  the  opposite  party 
kept  them  at  bay.  One  fellow  was 
discovered  secretly  cutting  the  ropes 
which  bound  their  frail  raft  together. 
He  was  instantly  flung  into  the  sea. 
Others  cut  the  ropes  which  supported 
the  mast,  and  it  fell  on  one  of  the  offi- 
cers and  broke  his  thigh.  He  was  in- 
stantly seized  by  the  mutineers  and 
thrown  overboard,  but  wras  saved  by 
his  friends.  Finding  that  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  make  a  desperate  effort  to 
put  an  end  to  the  mutiny,  the  officers 
once  more  rushed  forward,  and^many 
of  the  mutineers  fell.  By-and-by,  the 
effects  of  the  wine  which  they  had 
drank   wrore  off,    and  they  sank  into 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  133 

calmness  and  servility,  crying  out  for 
mercy,  and  begging  forgiveness  on 
their  knees. 

It  was  now  midnight,  and  tranquil- 
lity appeared  once  more  to  be  restor- 
ed ;  jjut  scarcely  an  hour  had  elapsed 
when  the  mutineers,  as  if  once  more 
seized  with  sudden  frenzy,  rushed  on 
the  officers,  tearing  them  with  their 
teeth.  A  new  scene  of  slaughter 
again  took  place,  and  the  raft  was 
once  more  strewed  with  dead  bodies. 

When  day  dawned,  it  was  found 
that  in  the  night  of  horror  which  had 
just  elapsed,  no  fewer  than  sixty-five 
of  the  mutineers  had  perished,  as  well 
as  two  of  the  other  party.  The  scanty 
stock  of  provisions  which  they  at  first 
possessed,  was  now  exhausted.  A 
single  cask  of  wine  only  remained. 
They  began  to  experience  the  most 
violent  cravings  of  hunger,  and  in  the 
12 


134  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

extremity  of  their  distress  were  forced 
to  devour  the  dead  bodies  of  their  un- 
fortunate companions.  Some,  who, 
even  in  the  extremity  to  which  they 
were  reduced,  revolted  from  this  hor- 
rible repast,  tried  to  stay  the  pangs 
of  hunger  by  gnawing  their  sword- 
belts,  cartridge-boxes,  &c;  but  from 
them  they  found  little  relief. 

A  third  night  of  horror  approached. 
Fortunately,  the  weather  was  now 
calm,  and  they  were  disturbed  only 
by  the  piercing  cries  of  those  who  were 
hourly  falling  victims  to  hunger  and 
thirst.  The  morning's  sun  showed 
the  survivers  the  lifeless  bodies  of  ten 
or  a  dozen  more  of  their  unfortunate 
companions,  who  had  died  during  the 
night.  They  were  all  committed  to 
the  deep  except  one,  who  was  kept  to 
satisfy  the  cravings  of  his  unhappy 
comrades.     A  shoal  of  flying-fish,  in 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  135 

passing  the  raft,  left  a  great  number 
entangled  between  the  spars.  This 
afforded  them  a  momentary  relief  from 
the  shocking  repast  to  which  they  had 
of  late  been  accustomed. 

The  fourth  night  was  marked  by 
another  revolt.  It  was,  however,  soon 
quelled  ;  two  lives  only  being  lost  in 
the  scuffle.  Their  number  was  now 
reduced  to  thirty  ;  and  it  was  calcu- 
lated that  the  wine  and  fish  which  re- 
mained would  be  just  enough  to  last 
four  days  ;  but  in  these  four  days  they 
also  calculated  that  ships  might  arrive 
from  St.  Louis  to  save  them.  Soon 
after  this  intimation  was  made,  two 
soldiers  were  discovered  behind  the 
cask  of  wine,  through  which  they  had 
bored  a  hole  for  the  purpose  of  drink- 
ing it.  It  having  been  determined 
that  the  punishment  of  death  should 
be  inflicted  on  any  one  who  should  be 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  137 

guilty  of  such  a  crime,  they  were  im- 
mediately tossed  into  the  sea. 

Their  number  was  thus  reduced  to 
twenty-eight ;  and,  as  nearly  one  half 
of  them  were  so  worn  out  and  emaci- 
ated, that  it  was  in  vain  to  expect  their 
surviving  till  assistance  could  arrive, 
(but,  as  long  as  they  did  live,  they 
consumed  part  of  the  scanty  stock  of 
provisions,)  a  council  was  held,  and 
after  deliberation,  it  was  decided  to 
throw  overboard  the  weak  and  the 
sickly.  This  shocking  resolution  was 
immediately  carried  into  effect. 

At  length  the  raft  was  discovered 
by  a  small  brig,  which  had  been  sent 
out  in  search  of  it.  Of  the  150  who 
embarked,  fifteen  only  were  received 
on  board  the  brig  ;  and  of  these,  six 
died  shortly  after  their  arrival  at  St. 
Louis. 

Oh  dreadful,  Uncle  Thomas  !  It 
12* 


138  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS.      , 

is  indeed  the  most  awful  tale  you  have 
yet  told  us.  Did  the  parties  in  the 
boats  reach  land  safely  ? 

Yes,  Harry,  they  all  reached  the 
shore  in  safety,  though  several  of  them 
afterwards  fell  victims  to  the  combin- 
ed effects  of  hunger,  thirst,  and  the 
oppression  of  a  burning  sun.  Shortly 
after  their  arrival,  the  governor,  recol- 
lecting that  the  Medusa,  at  the  time 
of  her  wreck,  had  on  board  a  large 
sum  of  money,  despatched  a  vessel  to 
try  to  recover  it.  From  various  causes, 
the  ship  was  twice  put  back ;  and 
when  she  reached  the  wreck,  fifty-two 
days  after  it  was  abandoned,  she  found 
three  miserable  wretches  still  on 
board,  and  so  reduced  as  to  be  just 
on  the  point  of  expiring  ! 

Where  did  they  come  from,  Uncle 
Thomas  ? 

Why,  John,  they  had  never  quitted 


WRECK    OF    THE    MEDUSA.  139 

the  ship.  You  will  recollect  that, 
when  the  boats  left  it,  such  was  the 
scene  of  confusion,  that  the  fewest 
provisions  were  put  on  board  the  raft, 
where  there  were  the  most  passen- 
gers. Well,  these  men,  along  with 
fourteen  others,  had  either  concealed 
themselves,  or  refused  to  leave  the 
ship.  They  managed  to  secure  a 
quantity  of  provisions  ;  and  so  long  as 
these  lasted,  there  appearing  no  dan- 
ger of  the  wreck  going  to  pieces,  they 
remained  quietly  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  assistance  ;  but  finding  their  pro- 
visions begin  to  run  short,  twelve  of 
the  most  determined  constructed  a 
raft ;  but,  setting  off  without  either 
sail  or  oars,  they  were  all  drowned. 
Another,  who  had  refused  to  embark 
with  them  on  the  raft,  resolved,  a  day 
or  two  after,  to  try  to  reach  the  shore, 
and,   lowering   a   hen-coop  from   the 


140  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

deck,  placed  himself  on  it ;  but,  be- 
fore he  had  sailed  half  a  cable's  length, 
he  sank,  to  rise  no  more.  The  other 
four  determined  to  stick  by  the  wreck  ; 
and  one  of  them  died  before  assistance 
reached  them. 

Did  the  other  three  arrive  in  safety, 
Uncle  Thomas  ? 

I  believe  they  did,  Frank  ;  one  of 
them  was,  however,  shortly  after- 
wards found  murdered  in  his  bed. 
But  I  dare  say  you  have  had  enough 
of  horrors  for  the  evening  ;  so,  I  be- 
lieve I  must  stop. 

Oh  yes,  Uncle  Thomas,  quite 
enough  for  one  evening.  We  will 
therefore  bid  you  good  night. 

Good  night,  boys  :  I  will  be  glad 
to  see  you  again  to-morrow. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

UNCLE    THOMAS     TELLS     ABOUT     THE     LOSS     OF    THE 
WINTERTON    EAST   INDIABIAN. 

Good  evening,  boys.  I  am  glad 
to  see  you  so  early.  I  have  "  a  long 
yarn  to  spin"  to-night,  as  the  sailors 
say ;  though  fortunately  it  contains 
fewer  horrors  than  that  of  last  even- 
ing. The  strife  of  the  elements  is  in 
deed  as  strong,  but  the  angry  passions 
of  man — more  dreadful  than  the  fierc- 
est storm — form  no  part  of  the  tale. 

I  am  glad  of  it,  Uncle  Thomas. 
The  shocking  conduct  of  the  muti- 
neers on  board  the  raft,  after  leaving 
the  Medusa,  of  which  you  told  us  last 
night,  makes  me  shudder  when  I  think 
of  it. 


L42  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

Intoxicating  drinks,  my  boys,  often 
make  men  mad.  The  tale  which  I 
am  going  to  tell  you  this  evening, 
is  that  of  the  loss  of  the  Winter- 
ton,  an  East  Indiaman,  which  was 
wrecked  on  the  Island  of  Madagas- 
car, on  her  passage  to  India.  The 
Winterton  sailed  from  England  in  the 
spring  of  1792,  and  arrived  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  safety.  On 
leaving  the  Cape,  it  was  Captain 
Dundas's  intention  to  have  taken  what 
is  called  the  outer  passage  to  India, 
but,  encountering  light,  variable  winds, 
he  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  origi- 
nal design,  and  bore  away  for  the  Mo- 
zambique Channel. 

In  order  to  avoid  a  shoal,  which  he 
knew  to  be  somewhat  incorrectly  laid 
down  in  the  charts,  Captain  Dundas 
steered  east.  Thinking  he  had  suffi- 
ciently accomplished  this,  he  altered 


LOSS    OF     THE     WINTERTON.  143 

his  course  ;  but  had  scarcely  sailed  in 
this  new  direction  for  three  vhours, 
when  the  ship,  which  they  supposed 
to  be  sixty  miles  distant  from  land, 
struck. 

The  boats  were  instantly  got  out, 
and  on  sounding  they  found  deep  wa- 
ter within  fifty  yards  of  the  stern  of 
the  vessel. 

Every  exertion  was  made  to  get  her 
off,  but  without  avail.  Day-light  soon 
disclosed  to  them  the  dangers  of  their 
situation.  The  ship  had  struck  on  a 
reef  of  rocks,  about  six  miles  from 
land. 

As  the  tide  ebbed,  the  ship  beat 
violently,  and  began  to  Leak,  and  by- 
and-by  the  rudder  was;  broken  off, 
and  the  copper  sheathing  of  the  vessel 
came  up  alongside  her ;  but  as  she  lay 
comparatively  quiet,  hopes  were  en- 
tertained that  they  might  succeed  in 


144 


TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 


getting  her  off  next  tide.  With  this 
view  they  proceeded  to  lighten  her  by 
every  means,  throwing  the  guns  over- 
board— carrying  them  to  such  a  dis- 
tance as  to  prevent  their  injuring  the 
ship  as  she  again  rose  with  the  tide. 
When,  however,  they  had  succeeded 
in  removing  about  half  the  number, 
the  sea-breeze  set  in  fresh,  and  pre- 
vented the  boats  from  approaching  the 
ship's  side.  They  continued,  not- 
withstanding, to  relieve  her  as  much 
as  possible,  by  throwing  overboard 
such  heavy  articles  as  the  tide  would 
carry  away.  At  high  water  they  re- 
newed their  exertions  to  heave  the  ship 
off;  but  were  again  unsuccessful. 
The  leak  had  by  this  time  gained  on 
the  pumps,  in  spite  of  their  utmost 
exertions. 

It  being  evident  that  the  ship  was 
irrecoverably   lost,    the   great   object 


LOSS    OF    THE    WINTERTON.  145 

now  was  to  secure  the  safety  of  the 
passengers  and  crew.  The  masts  were 
cut  away,  in  order  to  relieve  the  ves- 
sel, and  such  spars  as  the  surf  prevent- 
ed being  borne  away  by  the  tide,  were 
secured  for  the  purpose  of  making 
rafts  to  assist  in  conveying  the  passen- 
gers on  shore.  In  order  to  prevent 
such  scenes  of  drunkenness  as  have 
sometimes  disgraced  shipwrecks,  every 
cask  of  spirits  which  could  be  reached 
was  staved. 

Towards  evening,  a  party  was  sent 
on  shore  in  the  yawl,  to  prepare  a  con- 
venient place  for  landing ;  and  the 
captain  addressed  the  crew,  directing 
them  as  to  the  proper  course  of  pro- 
cedure on  reaching  the  shore,  and 
stating  his  determination  to  abide  by 
the  ship  till  the  safety  of  every  person 
on  board  was  secured.  This  manly 
13 


146  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

address  reanimated  the  drooping  cour- 
age of  the  crew. 

During  the  night  the  wind  increas- 
ed, and  several  of  the  boats  were 
dashed  in  pieces  by  the  violence  of  the 
surf.  Thus  deprived  of  the  means  of 
transporting  themselves  on  shore,  and 
the  ship,  in  the  meantime,  beating  with 
such  frightful  violence  against  the 
rocks,  as  threatened  every  instant  to 
break  her  in  pieces,  they  passed  a 
night  of  the  greatest  consternation  and 
anxiety. 

As  soon  as  daylight  set  in,  they  be- 
gan to  construct  rafts,  of  such  materi- 
als as  they  could  procure.  Three  or 
four  of  these  constructions  left  the 
ship,  carrying  about  eighty  persons, 
all  of  whom  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
shore.  In  the  meantime  the  breeze 
continued  to  freshen,  till  at  length  it 
became  so   violent,  that   the  hawser 


LOSS    OF    THE    WINTERTON.  147 

which  held  the  ship's  stern  to  the  wind 
parted,  and  she  drove  with  her  broad- 
side on  the  rocks,  the  sea  making  a 
complete  breach  over  her.  She  soon 
began  to  break  up,  when  every  one 
crowded  to  the-quarter-deck  and  podp, 
as  the  only  place  which  afforded  any 
chance  of  safety  :  in  a  short  time  this 
retreat  also  failed,  the  vessel  going 
completely  in  pieces.  Some  of  these 
were  driven  on  shore  in  various 
places,  bearing  with  them  such  of  the 
crew  as  had  managed  to  secure  a  foot- 
ing upon  them ;  but  the  gallant  cap- 
tain fell  a  victim  to  the  waves. 

For  several  days,  portions  of  the 
wreck  continued  to  drift  on  shore, 
generally  bringing  with  them  some 
part  of  the  crew.  On  gathering  the 
survivers  together,  it  was  found  that 
the  captain,  the  first  mate,  three  young 
ladies,  and  forty-eight  seamen,  had  per- 
ished.    But  the  trials  of  the  survivers 


148  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

were  not  at  an  end.  The  natives,  at- 
tracted by  the  wreck,  flocked  to  the 
shore,  and,  seizing  on  everything  of 
value  that  had  either  been  saved  or  was 
cast  on  shore,  threatened  every  one 
who  opposed  them  witb  instant  death. 

At  length  they  reached  Tulliar,  the 
residence  of  the  king  of  Baba,  by 
whom  they  were  kindly  received.  The 
yawl,  which  you  will  recollect  had 
been  sent  on  shore  on  the  evening 
previous  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  ves- 
sel, was  then  equipped  and  despatched 
to  Mozambique,  to  endeavor  to  pro- 
cure a  ship  to  come  to  their  rescue. 
After  sailing  for  some  days,  they 
reached  the  coast  of  Africa ;  but  being 
unable  to  make  head  against  the  nor- 
therly winds,  they  were  forced  to  steer 
for  Sofala,  a  Portuguese  settlement, 
where  they  arrived  in  safety. 

Unfortunately,   but  a  single  vessel 


LOSS    OF    THE    WINTERTON.  149 

touched  at  the  settlement  in  the  course 
of  the  year  ;  and  it  had  sailed  about  a 
month  before.  Finding  that  there  was 
here  no  hope  of  obtaining  relief  for 
their  companions,  they  again  set  sail, 
intending  to  proceed  to  Delagoa  bay, 
in  the  expectation  of  falling  in  with 
some  of  the  South  Sea  ships,  which 
touch  there  annually  in  considerable 
numbers.  Contrary  winds,  however, 
and  the  leaky  state  of  their  boat,  soon 
forced  them  to  return  to  Sofala.  The 
governor  received  them,  this  time,  in 
a  very  different  manner  from  that 
which  he  had  shown  to  them  on  their 
former  visit,  and  with  little  ceremony 
insisted  on  the  whole  party  proceeding 
with  his  messengers  to  Senna,  an  in- 
land settlement. 

For  five  weeks  they  travelled  through 
a  miserable  country,  very  thinly  inhab- 
ited, and  exposed  to  the  intense  heat 
13* 


150  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

of  the  sun,  and  many  dangers  from  the 
wild  beasts  with  which  the  country 
abounds.  The  fatigue  which  they  un- 
derwent on  this  journey  was  too  much 
for  several  of  the  party,  who  died 
shortly  after  their  arrival. 

At  length,  five  months  after  leaving 
Madagascar,  two  of  the  forty  reached 
Mozambique.  Here  they  freighted  a 
vessel,  and  proceeded  to  the  rescue  of 
their  unfortunate  comrades  in  misfor- 
tune. They  found  them  in  a  most 
melancholy  plight.  Disease  and  de- 
spair had  been  at  work  among  them  ; 
nearly  one  half  of  those  who  were 
saved  from  the  wreck  had  perished./ 
The  others,  emaciated  and  worn  out, 
were  embarked,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  seven,  who  expired  on  the  pas- 
sage, reached  Mozambique,  where,  in 
spite  of  every  attention  which  was  lav- 
ished on  them  by  the  governor  and  the 


LOSS    OF    THE    WINTEETON.  151 

inhabitants,  about  thirty  of  them  died 
within  two  months  of  their  arrival. 

When  the  others  were  so  far  recov- 
ered as  to  be  able  to  proceed,  they 
again  hired  a  vessel  to  carry  them  to 
Madras  ;  but,  before  they  reached  it, 
the  ship  was  captured  by  a  French 
privateer.  Part  of  the  crew  the  pri- 
vateer took  on  board  their  own  ship, 
and  put  a  number  of  their  men  into  the 
captured  vessel,  with  orders  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  Mauritius  with  all  possible 
speed.  The  privateer  then  continued 
her  cruise,  and  in  a  few  days  falling 
in  with  a  Dutch  East  Indiaman,  en- 
gaged with  her  ;  but  the  Dutchmen 
proving  victors,  the  remains  of  the 
crew  of  the  unfortunate  Winterton 
were  once  more  set  at  liberty.  They 
at  length  reached  Madras  ;  whence 
they  sailed  for  England  in  the  Scor- 
pion sloop-of-war. 


152  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

Poor  fellows !  they  seem  to  have 
been  very  unlucky,  Uncle  Thomas. 
The  rest  of  the  crew,  who  were  car- 
ried to  the  Mauritius,  did  they  get 
home  in  safety  also,  Uncle  Thomas  ? 

Oh,  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  tell 
you  about  them,  Frank.  They  never 
reached  England  ;  nor  could  the  least 
intelligence  be  heard  of  them,  though 
the  East  India  Company  caused  the 
most  diligent  inquiries  to  be  made 
after  them. 

Do  you  think  they  were  again  ship- 
wrecked, Uncle  Thomas  ? 

That  I  won't  say :  but  I  rather 
fear  there  was  foul  play  somewhere. 
Without  some  certain  grounds  to  go 
upon,  however,  it  is  useless  to  con- 
jecture. So  I  must  bid  you  good 
night. 

Good  night,  Uncle  Thomas ! 


CHAPTER  VITI. 

UNCLE     THOMAS     TELLS     ABOUT    THE     LOSS    OF    THE 
ROYAL    GEORGE. 

Perilous  as  is  the  life  of  a  sailor, 
boys,  during  the  raging  of  the  storm, 
or  when  far  at  sea  in  the  middle  of  the 
trackless  ocean,  he  is  still  exposed  to 
danger  even  when  his  ship  rides  at 
anchor  in  the  fancied  security  of  some 
friendly  port.  I  dare  say  you  have 
all  heard  of  the  loss  of  the  Royal 
George,  one  of  the  first-rate  ships  in 
the  British  navy,  which  sank  off  Spit- 
head,  fifty-six  years  ago.  The  sud- 
den and  unexpected  event,  and  the 
vast  number  of  persons  who  fell  vic- 
tims, caused  the  greatest  excitement 
at  the  time. 

I  have  often  heard  of  the  loss  of  the 


154  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

Royal  George,  Uncle  Thomas,  but  I 
never  could  get  any  information  about 
it.  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to 
tell  us  about  it  ? 

With  pleasure,  boys.  The  vessel 
had  just  returned  from  a  cruise,  in 
which  it  was  found  that  she  leaked 
more  than  usual,  and  as  the  leakage 
continued  even  after  she  came  into 
harbor,  an  order  was  issued  by  the 
Admiralty  that  she  should  go  into 
dock  to  repair.  After  a  strict  survey, 
however,  by  the  carpenter  and  others, 
it  was  found  that  the  leak  was  not 
more  than  two  feet  below  the  water- 
mark, and  supposing  it  to  be  occa- 
sioned by  the  rubbing  off  of  the  cop- 
per sheathing,  it  was  resolved,  in  or- 
der to  save  time,  to  lay  her  down  at 
Spithead,  by  what  is  called  a  parlia- 
ment heel;  that  is,  by  means  of  ropes 
attached  to  the  masts,  to  pull  her  over 


LOSS    OF    THE    ROYAL    GEORGE.  155 

so  much  to  one  side  as  to  expose  the 
other  above  water.  In  the  meantime 
it  was  discovered  that  the  pipe,  which 
occasionally  admitted  the  water  to 
cleanse  and  sweeten  the  ship,  was  out 
of  order,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to 
replace  it  with  a  new  one.  As  the 
vessel  required  to  be  heeled  very  much 
for  this  purpose,  the  greater  part  of 
the  guns  were  removed  from  one  side 
to  the  other ;  but  as  she  was  not  ex- 
pected to  heel  so  much  as  she  did, 
they  neglected  to  stop  the  scuppers  of 
the  lower  decks,  so  that  the  water 
coming  in  on  deck,  gradually  gained 
upon  them,  and  the  vessel  thus  for 
some  time  stole  down  imperceptibly. 

During  this  time  the  greater  part 
of  the  crew  were  at  dinner ;  but  the 
carpenters  and  caulkers  continued  at 
their  work,  and  had  almost  finished  it, 
when  a  sudden  squall  took  the  ship  on 


156 


TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 


the  raised  side,  and  the  lower  deck 
ports  to  leeward  being  open,  the  wa- 
ter rushed  in.  As  soon  as  the  dan- 
gerous situation  of  the  vessel  was  dis- 
covered, they  beat  to  arms  to  right 
the  ship,  but  in  vain :  in  less  than 
eight  minutes  she  fell  flat  on  one  side, 
filled  with  water,  and  the  guns,  shot, 
&c,  falling  from  the  other  side,  ac- 
celerated her  descent.  She  sunk  to 
the  bottom  so  rapidly  that  no  signal 
of  distress  could  be  made ;  nor  in- 
deed could  any  assistance  have  availed 
if  there  had,  for  after  her  lower  ports 
were  fairly  in  the  water,  no  power  on 
earth  could  have  prevented  her  from 
going  to  the  bottom. 

At  this  fatal  moment  there  were 
nearly  twelve  hundred  persons  on 
board,  including  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  women  and  several  children, 
chiefly  belonging  to  the  seamen,  who 


LOSS  OF  THE  ROYAL  GEORGE.      157 

had  been  permitted  to  remain  on  board 
until  the  order  for  sailing  arrived. 
The  people  who  formed  the  watch 
upon  deck,  including  their  friends, 
amounting  in  all  to  about  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty,  were  mostly  saved  by 
the  boats,  which  the  ships  lying  near 
the  Royal  George  manned  and  sent 
to  their  assistance,  with  the  utmost 
expedition,  when  they  observed  the 
vessel  was  sinking.  Their  assistance 
was,  however,  for  some  time  necessa- 
rily delayed,  as  the  swell  occasioned 
by  the  sinking  of  such  a  large  body 
produced  a  temporary  whirlpool,  which 
rendered  approach  impossible  ;  a  vict- 
ualling sloop  indeed,  which  lay  along- 
side the  Royal  George,  was  drawn 
into  the  vortex,  and  seven  of  her  crew 
were  drowned.  The  boats  also  pick- 
ed up  about  seventy  more,  who  rose 
to  the  surface  after  the  ship  had  dis- 
14 


158  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

appeared,  among  whom  were  four 
lieutenants,  eleven  women,  and  the 
remainder  seamen. 

Among  the  officers  thus  snatched 
from  the  brink  of  eternity,  was  Lieu- 
tenant Durham,  who,  being  officer  of 
the  watch,  was  upon  deck  at  the  time 
when  he  observed  the  vessel  going 
down.  He  had  just  time  to  throw  off 
his  coat  and  scramble  on  the  beam, 
from  which  he  was  wTashed  as  the  ship 
sunk,  and  left  floating  about  among 
men  and  hammocks.  A  drowning 
marine  caught  him  by  the  waistcoat, 
and  held  him  so  fast,  that  several 
times  he  was  drawn  under  water.  It 
was  in  vain  to  reason  with  a  man 
struggling  for  life ;  and  conscious  of 
the  certainty  of  neither  being  saved, 
if  he  did  not  disentangle  himself  from 
his  burden,  he  clung  with  his  legs 
round  a  hammock,  and  with  one  hand 


LOSS  OF  THE  ROYAL  GEORGE.     159 

unbuttoning  his  waistcoat  and  sloping 
his  shoulder,  committed  it,  with  the 
unfortunate  marine,  to  the  remorseless 
deep.  He  then  got  to  some  of  the 
top  rigging,  where  a  boat  soon  after- 
wards came  to  him,  but  he  nobly  de- 
clined the  assistance  offered,  and 
pointing  out  to  them  where  Captain 
Waghorne  was  in  great  danger,  he 
desired  them  to  go  to  his  relief:  the 
gallant  youth  was  at  length  taken  up 
and  conveyed  in  safety  to  the  shore. 

The  preservation  of  another  young 
man,  named  Henry  Bishop,  was  effect- 
ed in  a  very  extraordinary  manner. 
He  was  on  the  lower  deck  at  the  time 
of  the  fatal  accident,  and  as  the  vessel 
filled,  the  force  of  the  water  hurried 
him,  almost  insensibly,  up  the  hatch- 
way, when,  at  the  instant,  he  was  met 
by  one  of  the  guns  which  fell  from  the 
middle  deck,  which  striking  him  on 


160  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

his  left  hand,  broke  three  of  his  fin- 
gers ;  in  a  few  seconds,  however,  he 
found  himself  floating  on  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  was  providentially 
picked  up  by  one  of  the  boats. 

Every  effort  was  made  by  the  boats 
of  the  fleet  to  save  the  crew  ;  but 
they  were  able  to  pick  up  only  Cap- 
tain Waghorne,  a  few  officers,  and 
about  three  hundred  people.  By  this 
dreadful  and  unlooked-for  accident, 
nearly  nine  hundred  persons  lost  their 
lives ;  among  whom  was  Admiral 
Kempenfelt,  whose  flag  was  then  fly- 
ing on  board  the  Royal  George,  and 
whose  loss  was  universally  lamented. 
Besides  the  Admiral,  who  was  in  his 
cabin  writing  when  the  sudden  disas- 
ter happened,  every  one  who  was  be- 
tween the  decks  perished  with  her. 
Captain  Waghorne,  the  Admiral's 
first    captain,    was,    fortunately,    on 


LOSS  OF  THE  ROYAL  GEORGE.     161 

deck ;  but  his  son,  who  was  a  lieu- 
tenant on  board,  was  drowned. 

The  water  must  have  been  very 
deep,  Uncle  Thomas,  to  cover  such  a 
large  vessel.  But  I  suppose  she  lay 
on  her  side. 

No,  Harry,  she  did  not :  a  great 
number  of  persons  were  saved  by 
climbing  on  the  topsail  yards,  which 
remained  above  water  after  the  vessel 
reached  the  bottom.  She  very  soon 
righted  herself,  and  the  tops  of  her 
masts  were  visible  so  late  as  1799; 
part  of  her  hull  even  might  then  be 
seen  at  low  water. 

Could  not  the  Royal  George  be  got 
up  again,  Uncle  Thomas  ?  I  should 
have  thought  that,  being  quite  sound 
and  in  still  water,  she  might  have  been 
weighed. 

Several  attempts  were  made  to 
weigh  her,  Frank  ;  but  they  were  all 
14* 


162  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

unsuccessful.  Her  anchor  and  some 
of  her  guns  were,  however,  recovered 
by  means  of  diving  bells.  Her  an- 
chor was  the  heaviest  ever  made — it 
weighed  ninety-eight  hundred  weight. 

In  the  churchyard  at  Portsea,  an 
elegant  monument  was  erected  to  the 
memory  of  the  brave  Admiral  Kem- 
penfelt  and  his  fellow-sufferers.  On 
it  is  engraved  this  impressive  admoni- 
tion : — 

"  Reader !  with  solemn  thought  sur- 
vey this  grave,  and  reflect  on  the  un- 
timely death  of  thy  fellow-mortals  ; 
and  whilst,  as  a  man,  a  Briton,  and 
a  patriot,  thou  readest  the  melancholy 
narrative,  drop  a  tear  for  thy  coun- 
try's loss.  On  the  twenty-ninth  day 
of  August,  1782,  his  Majesty's  ship, 
the  Royal  George,  being  on  the  heel 
at  Spithead,  overset  and  sunk :  by 
which  fatal  accident  about  nine  hun- 


LOSS  OF  THE  ROYAL  GEORGE.      163 

dred  persons  were  instantly  launched 
into  eternity  ;  among  whom  was  that 
brave  and  experienced  officer,  Rear 
Admiral  Kempenfelt.  Nine  days  af- 
ter, many  of  the  bodies  of  the  unfor- 
tunate floated  ;  thirty-five  of  whom 
were  interred  in  one  grave,  near  this 
monument,  which  is  erected  by  the 
parish  of  Portsea,  as  a  grateful  trib- 
ute to  the  memory  of  that  great  com- 
mander and  his  fellow-sufferers. " 
Good  night,  Uncle  Thomas. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

UNCLE    THOMAS    TELLS    ABOUT    THE    WRECK    OF    THE 
STEAMERS    KILLARNEY    AND    FORFARSHIRE. 

Good  evening,  boys!  The  sudden 
and  unexpected  disappearance  of  the 
Royal  George,  though,  from  the  size 
of  the  vessel,  and  the  number  of  lives 
which  were  lost  on  the  occasion,  an 
event  sufficiently  appalling,  is  yet  fre- 
quently outdone,  in  intensity  of  suffer- 
ing, by  cases  of  shipwreck  which  hap- 
pen on  our  coasts.  To-night,  I  am 
going  to  tell  you  about  the  loss  of  two 
steam  vessels,  both  of  which  afford  re- 
markable instances  of  extreme  suffer- 
ing. 

The  first  is  that  of  the  Killarney,  a 
small  steamer  of  about  two  hundred 
tons   burthen,   which   sailed   between 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  165 

Cork  and  Bristol.  She  left  the  quay 
at  Cork,  on  the  morning  of  Friday, 
January  19,  1838,  having  on  board 
twenty-one  passengers,  and  twenty  - 
two  persons  belonging  to  the  vessel. 
Her  cargo  consisted  of  about  one  hun- 
dred tons  of  goods,  and  six  hundred 
and  fifty  pigs,  part  of  which  were  in 
the  fore  hold,  and  the  rest  on  deck. 

Soon  after  she  had  left  the  harbor  she 
encountered  a  gale,  and  the  number 
of  pigs  causing  her  to  dip  considera- 
bly, she  shipped  several  seas,  which 
alarmed  the  passengers  so  much,  that 
they  prevailed  on  the  captain  to  put 
back. 

In  the  evening,  the  wind  having 
somewhat  moderated,  the  captain,  con- 
trary to  the  wishes  of  the  passengers, 
resumed  his  voyage.  The  vessel  had, 
however,  scarcely  left  the  harbor, 
when  the  wind  again  rose,  and  kept 


166  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

increasing  till  it  blew  a  gale.  This 
continued  until  midnight,  the  vessel 
rolling  dreadfully,  and  every  wave  that 
struck  her  causing  her  to  dip  so  deep- 
ly, that  she  shipped  several  seas.  A 
great  quantity  of  water  poured  down 
into  the  fore  hold,  the  hatches  having 
been  left  open  in  order  to  admit  the 
air  to  the  pigs  which  were  confined 
in  it. 

As  matters  began  to  wear  a  threat- 
ening aspect,  the  captain  requested 
that  every  person  on  board  would  as- 
sist in  throwing  overboard  the  pigs 
which  were  on  deck,  which  crowded 
to  the  lee-side  of  the  vessel  so  as  al- 
most to  render  her  unmanageable. 
They  found  this,  however,  a  matter  of 
great  difficulty,  and  were  able  thus  to 
dispose  of  a  very  small  number  only. 

The  sea,  in  the  meantime,  continued 
to  wash  over  the  deck,  and  to  pour 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  167 

into  the  hold.  Up  to  four  o'clock,  on 
Saturday  morning,  they  managed,  by 
means  of  pumps  which  were  worked 
by  the  engine,  to  get  rid  of  this  water  ; 
but  about  that  hour  some  small  coal 
got  into  the  pumps  and  choked  them. 
The  water  then  rose  rapidly,  until  it 
reached  the  level  of  the  engine-fire, 
when  it  rushed  in,  and  at  once  extin- 
guished it.  The  engine  no  longer 
moved,  and  all  was  given  up  for  lost. 

After  a  few  minutes  of  abandonment 
to  despair,  the  sailors,  and  part  of  the 
passengers,  seizing  buckets,  began  to 
endeavor  to  lighten  the  vessel  of  some 
of  the  water  in  the  hold,  and  after  sev- 
eral hours  of  hard  labor,  they  so  far 
gained  upon  it  as  to  enable  them  once 
more  to  light  the  fire,  and  to  get  the 
steam  partly  up  again.  They  were  at 
this  time  utterly  ignorant  of  where 
they  were,  or  whither  they  were  go- 


168  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

ing,  for  the  fog  was  so  dense  that  no 
object  was  visible.  They  endeavored 
to  keep  the  vessel's  head  to  the  wind, 
but,  after  some  time,  they  found  they 
were  going  to  leeward.  The  jibsail 
was  then  set,  in  order  to  keep  her 
steady,  but  no  sooner  was  it  run  out 
than  it  was  blown  into  ribbons.  About 
three  o'clock  the  fog  cleared  away, 
and  they  saw  land  behind  them,  but 
no  one  could  tell  with  certainty  what 
part  of  the  coast  it  was.  It  was  then 
blowing  a  complete  hurricane  ;  the 
shore  was  covered  with  rocks,  and 
they  saw  that,  if  they  drifted  towards 
it,  destruction  was  inevitable.  By  the 
captain's  orders,  the  mainsail  was  set, 
and  the  engine-men  were  directed  to 
do  their  utmost  to  get  up  the  steam, 
in  order  to  keep  her  off.  The  steam, 
unfortunately,  was  so  weak  as  to  be 
of  no  assistance  —  it  scarcely  moved 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  169 

the  crank ;  and  the  sail  had  to  be 
hauled  down,  lest  it  should  throw  the 
vessel  on  her  beam  ends.  The  stay- 
sail was  then  tried,  in  the  hope  that  it 
would  enable  them  to  round  the  point ; 
but  the  storm  was  so  violent  that  they 
could  not  haul  it  out. 

The  vessel  was  in  the  meantime 
drifting  nearer  to  the  rock  on  which 
she  ultimately  struck.  After  great 
exertions  they  succeeded  in  turning 
her  round,  to  endeavor  to  make  for  a 
bay  which  promised  a  place  of  safety. 
Just  as  they  had  succeeded  in  getting 
her  before  the  wind,  she  was,  however, 
pooped  by  a  tremendous  sea,  which 
carried  away  the  taffrail,  the  wheel, 
and  the  two  men  who  worked  it,  the 
companion,  the  binnacle,  and  the 
breakwater.  The  men  fortunately 
caught  part  of  the  rigging,  and  were 
saved  ;  but  the  sea  carried  away  the 
15 


170  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

bulwarks,  with  some  of  the  steerage 
passengers  who  were  standing  near  the 
funnel,  and  at  once  cleared  the  deck 
of  all  the  pigs. 

When  the  vessel  was  nearing  the 
rock,  and  before  she  put  about,  the 
steward  went  down  to  call  the  cabin 
passengers  on  deck.  They  were  on 
their  way  up  when  the  sea  passed  over 
the  vessel.  A  second  wave  succeeded 
almost  immediately,  and  scarcely  had 
two  of  them  stepped  on  the  quarter- 
deck when  they  were  hurried  over- 
board. These  two  seas  had  the  effect 
of  bringing  the  head  of  the  vessel 
somewhat  to  windward  again,  when  a 
third  wave  rapidly  succeeded,  and 
drove  her  on  the  rock.  It  was  then 
between  four  and  five  o'clock.  The 
first  stroke  she  gave,  the  carpenter 
jumped  on  the  rock  ;  he  was  followed 
by  one  of  the  passengers,  but  the  land- 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  171 

ing-place  was  so  narrow  that  there 
was  not  room  for  both,  and  the  latter 
fell  into  the  water  and  was  drowned. 
After  striking,  the  vessel  receded ; 
she  soon  struck  again,  and  continued 
receding  and  striking  for  some  time, 
during  which  some  of  the  sailors,  the 
first  mate,  and  the  captain  landed. 
When  the  latter  got  on  the  rock,  a 
rope  was  thrown  to  him  and  the  mate, 
that  they  might  endeavor  to  keep  the 
vessel  to  the  rock.  Most  of  the  sail- 
ors and  some  of  the  passengers  were 
saved  in  this  way,  one  only  landing  at 
a  time. 

Before  leaving  the  vessel,  the  stew- 
ard scrambled  along  the  deck  to  look 
for  Mrs.  Lawe,  one  of  the  passengers, 
who  had  distinguished  herself  by  her 
calmness,  and  the  firm  reliance  she 
placed  on  a  protecting  Providence. 
He  found   her  near  the  funnel,  calm 


172  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

and  collected  ;  with  some  difficulty  he 
brought  her  to  the  quarter-gallery,  and 
loosing  the  rope,  he  handed  it  to  her, 
directing  her  to  take  hold  of  it,  and, 
when  the  vessel  next  struck,  to  leap 
into  the  sea,  and  they  would  drag  her 
to  the  rock.  She  did  so,  and  was 
drawn  up  part  of  the  way,  but  having 
quitted  her  hold  of  the  rope,  she  was 
carried  away  by  the  receding  wave, 
and  never  seen  again.  The  steward 
leaped  almost  at  the  same  moment, 
and  was  saved.  The  last  persons  who 
left  the  vessel  were  a  sailor  and  a 
woman  —  the  latter  supposed  to  be  the 
stewardess.  She  appeared  to  be  in- 
sensible ;  and  the  sailor,  who  seem- 
ed to  have  brought  her  from  the  cabin, 
had  her  in  his  arms.  He  leaped  from 
the  vessel,  and  reached  the  rock,  the 
woman  under  one  arm ;  but  the  foot- 
ing  was   narrow,  and   the  rock  was 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  173 

shelving.  He  had  room  for  little 
more  than  his  toes,  and  was  obliged 
to  endeavor  to  hold  on  with  the  fingers 
of  one  hand,  but  the  weight  of  the 
woman  inclining  him  backwards,  they 
fell  into  the  sea,  and  both  were 
drowned. 

The  manner  in  which  some  of  the 
lives  were  lost  was  peculiarly  affect- 
ing. A  medical  gentleman,  one  of 
the  passengers,  had  his  little  son  in 
his  arms,  soothing  and  supporting 
him,  and  when  the  vessel  struck,  he 
flung  him  with  all  his  strength  towards 
the  rock.  The  child  reached  it  in 
safety,  though  the  violence  of  the  ef- 
fort nearly  carried  the  father  over- 
board. When  the  latter  gained  the 
rock,  he  again  took  him  in  his  arms, 
and,  by  clasping  him  closely,  endeav- 
ored to  keep  him  warm.  "  Kiss  me, 
papa,"  said  the  little  fellow,  "we 
15* 


174  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

shall  soon  meet  no  more."  The  child 
was  right.  In  a  few  minutes  he  got 
on  his  feet,  ventured  a  short  distance 
from  his  father's  side,  and  slipping 
from  the  rock,  was  at  once  swallowed 
up  by  the  raging  deep. 

As  soon  as  the  steward  loosed  the 
rope  to  give  it  to  Mrs.  Lawe,  the  ves- 
sel having  nothing  to  confine  her, 
swung  round,  and  the  next  sea  that 
struck  her  drove  her  against  the  rock  ; 
her  deck  opened,  she  divided  into  two, 
fore  and  aft,  and  every  one  who  re- 
mained on  board  perished.  In  an 
hour  after,  with  the  exception  of  the 
engine  and  the  paddle-wheel,  not  a 
vestige  of  the  vessel  or  of  her  ma- 
chinery  was  visible. 

There  were  now  about  twenty-five 
persons  on  the  rock.  The  sailors  had 
contrived  to  clamber  to  a  sheltered 
side,  but  the  situation  of  the  passen- 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  175 

gers  was  pitiable  in  the  extreme. 
One  who  had  on  but  a  shirt  and  waist- 
coat, was  seated  astride  on  a  projec- 
tion of  the  rock,  his  face  towards  the 
sea.  Under  him  was  another,  his  back 
to  the  sea,  his  toes  resting  on  a  nar- 
row ledge,  and  his  fingers  clinging  in 
a  crevice ;  while  close  beside  them 
were  others  equally  exposed  and 
equally  helpless. 

The  persons  on  the  side  next  the 
land  observing  some  country  people — 
about  eighteen  or  twenty — on  the 
shore,  shouted  to  them,  hoping  to  at- 
tract their  attention,  but  there  was  no 
answer.  The  probability  is,  that  the 
sound  never  reached  the  land,  as  they 
saw  the  people  subsequently  descend 
and  carry  off  some  of  the  pigs  that  had 
been  washed  ashore.  Night  came  on. 
About  eleven  o'clock  the  wind  rose 
and  blew  terrifically,  but,  even  amid 


176  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

the  raging  of  the  storm,  a  startling 
shriek  was  now  and  then  heard,  as 
one  after  another,  unable  longer  to 
maintain  their  hold,  fell  into  the  sea. 

When  morning  broke,  the  survivers 
clambered  to  the  sheltered  side  of  the 
rock.  As  they  had  now  been  discov- 
ered by  the  people  on  shore,  great 
exertions  were  made  to  relieve  them ; 
but,  as  the  storm  continued  unabated, 
it  was  found  impossible  to  reach  the 
rock.  Ducks  with  ropes  fastened  to 
them  were  sent  out ;  only  one  arrived, 
and  that  they  were  unable  to  catch. 
Wire  was  attached  to  bullets,  and 
rope  to  the  wire,  and  sundry  shots 
were  fired;  but  this  means  also  was 
unsuccessful. 

The  whole  of  Sunday  was  spent  in 
a  variety  of  experiments  to  convey  a 
rope  to  the  rock,  without  success. 
The  feelings  of  the  sufferers  it  would 


WRECK    OF    THE    KILLARNEY.  177 

be  impossible  to  describe,  and  their 
agony,  when  they  saw  the  attempt  to 
rescue  them  abandoned — when  dark- 
ness settled  down  upon  the  deep,  and 
they  could  no  longer  distinguish  the 
figures  of  the  persons  on  the  cliff  above 
them,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  imagine. 
Their  sole  sustenance,  during  the  two 
tedious  days  and  nights  which  they 
had  passed  since  the  wreck,  was  a 
little  salt  water  and  the  few  scraps  of 
seaweed  that  they  could  gather  from 
one  of  the  bleakest  and  most  barren 
rocks  on  the  coast.  The  night,  how- 
ever, was  not  so  tempestuous  as  the 
preceding,  and  at  daylight  the  shore 
was  once  more  crowded  by  persons, 
all  anxious  to  lend  their  assistance. 

On  Monday  morning,  Captain  Man- 
by's  life-preserving  apparatus  was 
brought  to  their  assistance,  but  the 
•same   difficulty    was    experienced    in 


178  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

reaching  the  rock  with  the  rope.  Shots 
were  again  fired  from  guns  and  small 
cannon  brought  for  the  purpose,  but 
without  success.  At  length,  a  plan, 
which  had  been  unsuccessful  on  the 
preceding  day,  succeeded,  and  about 
eleven  o'clock  two  loaves  of  bread, 
and  a  little  wine  and  spirits,  were  low- 
ered to  them — the  first  they  had  par- 
taken of  since  Friday.  After  refresh- 
ing themselves,  they  were  hauled  up, 
one  by  one.  Of  the  forty-three  per- 
sons who  embarked  on  Friday  morn- 
ing, thirteen  only  escaped,  and  of  these 
one  died  soon  after  their  rescue. 

Dreadful,  Uncle  Thomas  !  I  won- 
der they  were  not  all  starved  to  death, 
exposed  as  they  were  to  the  cold  of 
two  January  nights. 

It  was  indeed  surprising,  Harry, 
that  any  of  them  escaped.  Some  of 
them  were  nearly  destitute  of  cloth- 


WRECK    OF    THE    FORFARSHIRE.  179 

ing.  I  told  you  of  one  of  the  passen- 
gers who  was  all  but  naked,  and  the 
woman  who  escaped  passed  the  time 
on  the  rock  with  only  her  night-dress 
and  a  small  handkerchief  to  cover  her. 

The  other  wreck,  of  which  I  prom- 
ised to  tell  you  this  evening,  is  that* 
of  the  Forfarshire,  also  a  steamer, 
which  sailed  between  Hull  and  Dun- 
dee. She  left  Hull  on  the  evening  of 
Wednesday,  September  5th,  1838, 
having  on  board  a  valuable  cargo,  and 
upwards  of  forty  passengers.  Her 
crewT  consisted  of  twenty-one  persons  ; 
the  captain's  wife  accompanied  him 
on  the  voyage. 

The  Forfarshire  had  not  proceeded 
far  when  a  leak  was  discovered  in  the 
boiler.  This  rendered  it  necessary  to 
extinguish  two  of  the  fires,  which 
were,  however,  relighted  when  the 
boiler   had    been    partially   repaired. 


180  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

The  vessel  continued  her  course  until 
the  following  evening,  by  which  time 
she  had  proceeded  as  far  as  Berwick 
Bay,  when  the  leak  again  appeared. 
It  had  now  become  so  great,  that  the 
greatest  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
'keeping  the  boilers  filled,  the  water 
escaping  through  the  leak  as  fast  as 
it  was  pumped  in.  The  wind  was 
blowing  strong  and  the  sea  running 
high,  and  the  leak  increased  so  much 
from  the  motion  of  the  vessel,  that  the 
fires  were  extinguished,  and  the  en- 
gines, of  course,  became  entirely  use- 
less. It  was  now  about  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  and  they  were  off  St.  Abbs' 
Head,  a  bold  promontory  on  the  Scot- 
tish coast.  There  being  great  danger 
of  drifting  ashore,  the  sails  were  hoist- 
ed fore  and  aft,  and  the  vessel  put 
about  in  order  to  get  her  before  the 
wind,  and  keep  her  off  the  land.     She 


WRECK    OF    THE    FORFARSHIRE.  181 

soon  became  unmanageable,  and  the 
tide  setting  strong  to  the  south,  she 
proceeded  in  that  direction.  It  rained 
heavily  during  the  whole  time,  and 
the  fog  was  so  dense  that  it  became 
impossible  to  tell  the  situation  of  the 
vessel.  At  length  breakers  were  dis- 
covered close  to  leeward,  and  the 
Feme  Lights,  which  about  the  same 
period  became  visible,  put  an  end  to 
all  doubt  as  to  the  imminent  peril  of 
the  unfortunate  vessel.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  run  her  between  the 
Feme  Islands,  but  she  refused  to  obey 
the  helm,  and  at  three  o'clock  on  Fri- 
day morning,  she  struck  with  tremen- 
dous force  against  the  outer  or  Long- 
stone  Island. 

At  the  moment  the  vessel  struck, 

most  of  the  passengers  were  below, 

and    many   of   them   asleep   in   their 

berths.     One,  alarmed  by  the  shock, 

16 


TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 


started  up,  and  seizing  his  trousers 
only,  rushed  upon  deck.  When  he 
reached  it,  he  found  everything  in 
confusion,  and  seeing  part  of  the  crew 
hoisting  out  a  boat,  he  sprang  into  it. 
The  raging  of  the  sea  instantly  separ- 
ated it  from  the  vessel,  and  though 
several  of  the  other  passengers  at- 
tempted to  reach  it,  they  were  unsuc- 
cessful, and  perished  in  the  attempt. 
The  boat  itself  escaped  by  something 
little  short  of  a  miracle.  There  was 
but  one  outlet  by  which  it  could  avoid 
being  clashed  in  pieces  on  the  breakers 
by  which  it  was  surrounded.  This 
outlet  it  providentially  took  without 
its  crew  being  aware  of  it ;  and  after 
being  exposed  to  the  storm  all  night, 
it  was  picked  up  by  a  sloop  and  car- 
ried into  Shields. 

In  less  than  five  minutes  after  the 
vessel  struck,  a  second  shock  separa- 


WRECK    OF    THE    FORFARSHIRE.  183 

ted  her  into  two  parts — the  stern, 
quarter-deck,  and  cabin  being  in- 
stantly borne  away,  through  a  pas- 
sage called  the  Piper  Gut,  by  a  tre- 
mendous current,  which  runs  with 
considerable  violence  even  in  temper- 
ate weather — with  a  rapidity  of  about 
six  miles  an  hour — but  which,  when 
the  weather  is  tempestuous,  flows 
with  a  force  truly  terrific. 

The  fore  part  of  the  vessel,  in  the 
meantime,  remained  fast  on  the  rock, 
and  to  it  still  clung  the  few  passen- 
gers who  remained,  every  instant  ex- 
pecting to  share  the  fate  of  their  un- 
fortunate companions,  whom  they  had 
seen  swept  away  by  the  raging  ele- 
ment. In  this  dreadful  situation  their 
cries  attracted  the  notice  of  Grace 
Darling,  the  daughter  of  the  keeper 
of  the  Outer  Feme  Lighthouse.  With 
a  noble  heroism,  she  immediately  de- 


184  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

termined  to  attempt  their  rescue,  in 
spite  of  the  raging  of  the  storm,  and 
the  all  but  certain  destruction  which 
threatened  to  attend  it. 

Having  hastily  awakened  her  father, 
he  launched  his  boat  at  day-break, 
and,  with  a  generous  sympathy  worthy 
of  the  father  of  Grace  Darling,  pre- 
pared to  proceed  to  their  rescue.  The 
gale,  in  the  meantime,  continued  un- 
abated, and  the  boiling  of  the  waves 
threatened  a  speedy  destruction  to 
their  frail  boat.  It  was  therefore 
with  a  heart  full  of  the  most  fearful 
forebodings,  that  he  undertook  the 
perilous  enterprise.  After  watching 
the  wreck  for  some  time,  they  discov- 
ered that  living  beings  were  still  cling- 
ing to  it,  and  the  gallant  young  wo- 
man, with  matchless  intrepidity,  seiz- 
ed an  oar  and  entered  the  boat.  This 
was    enough — her    father    followed; 


WRECK    OF    THE    FORFARSHIRE.  185 

and,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
daughter,  conducted  the  frail  skiff 
over  the  foaming  billows  to  the  spot 
where  the  wreck  appeared.  By  a 
dangerous  and  desperate  effort  he  was 
landed  on  the  rock,  and  to  preserve 
the  frail  boat  from  being  dashed  to 
pieces,  it  was  rapidly  rowed  back 
among  the  awful  abyss  of  waters,  and 
kept  afloat  by  the  skilfulness  and  dex- 
terity of  this  noble-minded  young  wo- 
man. At  length  the  whole  of  the  sur- 
vivers,  consisting  of  five  of  the  crew 
and  four  of  the  passengers,  were  taken 
from  the  wreck,  and  conveyed  to  the 
light-house,  where  she  ministered  to 
their  wants,  and  anxiously,  for  three 
days  and  three  nights,  waited  on  the 
sufferers,  and  soothed  their  afflictions. 
This  perilous  achievement,  unexam- 
pled in  the  feats  of  female  fortitude, 
was  witnessed  by  the  survivers  in  silent 
16* 


186  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

wonder.  The  weather  continued  so 
tempestuous  that  the  mainland  could 
not  be  reached  till  Sunday,  when  the 
nine  persons,  saved  by  the  gallant  he- 
roism of  the  Darlings,  wTere  landed  in 
safety ;  thus  making  the  entire  number 
of  persons  saved  from  the  wreck  eight- 
een.    All  the  others  perished. 

Those  who  found  refuge  on  the 
rock  on  which  the  vessel  struck,  suf- 
fered severely  during  the  night  from 
the  cold  and  the  heavy  seas  which,  at 
intervals,  washed  over  them.  The 
female  passenger,  who  escaped,  sat 
with  her  two  children,  a  boy  and  a 
girl,  the  one  eight  and  the  other  eleven 
years  of  age,  firmly  grasped  in  each 
hand,  long  after  the  bufferings  of  the 
waves  had  deprived  them  of  existence. 
The  captain  and  his  wife  were  washed 
from  the  wreck,  clasped  in  each  other's 
arms,  and  both  drowned. 


WRECK    OF    THE    FORFARSHIRE.  187 

It  was  indeed  a  noble  act,  Uncle 
Thomas !  I  wonder  she  was  not 
afraid  that  her  boat  would  share  the 
fate  of  the  steam-vessel,  and  be  dash- 
ed in  pieces  on  the  rock. 

It  was  an  act  of  heroism,  boys,  to 
which  you  will  find  few  parallels  ;  nor 
has  it  been  without  its  reward.  Be- 
sides the  satisfaction  of  saving  nine 
fellow-creatures  from  certain  destruc- 
tion, the  fame  of  the  heroic  act  has 
spread  far  and  wide,  and  its  praise 
been  on  every  tongue.  Painters,  of 
no  mean  power,  have  portrayed  the 
scene,  and  its  memory  will  be  thus 
preserved.  Presents  have  besides 
poured  in  upon  her  and  her  father, 
and  everything  been  done  to  mark  the 
public  sympathy  and  approbation  of 
the  daring  and  disinterested  deed. 

A  coroner's  inquest  was  held  on  the 
bodies  of  four  of  the  sufferers,  which 


188  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

were  washed  ashore.  The  jury  re- 
turned a  verdict  "  Wrecked  on  board 
the  Forfarshire  steam-packet,  by  the 
imperfection  of  her  boilers,  and  the 
culpable  negligence  of  the  captain  in 
not  putting  back  to  port." 

Was  the  vessel  completely  destroy- 
ed, Uncle  Thomas  ? 

The  only  part  of  the  vessel  which 
remained,  Harry,  consisted  of  the 
forecastle,  part  of  the  engine,  the  pad- 
dle-wheels, and  part  of  the  rigging. 
One  of  the  boilers  was  thrown  upon 
the  rock,  the  other  disappeared  in  the 
sea.  Of  the  valuable  cargo,  a  few 
boxes  of  soap  only  were  recovered. 


CHAPTER  X. 

UNCLE    THOMAS    TELLS   ABOUT    THE    WRECK   OF    THE 
ALBION    NEW    YORK    PACKET. 

Many  of  the  tales  of  shipwrecks 
which  have  happened  on  our  shores, 
are  extremely  distressing  ;  none  more 
so,  perhaps,  than  that  of  the  Albion 
packet,  which  was  wrecked  on  the 
Irish  coast,  in  1822. 

The  Albion  was  one  of  the  first- 
class  packet  ships  between  New  York 
and  Liverpool,  and  sailed  from  the 
former  place  on  the  first  of  April,  hav- 
ing on  board  twenty-three  cabin  and 
six  steerage  passengers,  her  crew  con- 
sisting of  twenty-five  persons ;  mak- 
ing the  entire  number  who  embarked 
fifty-four.     For  the  first  twenty  days 


190  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

the  voyage  was  prosperous  and  pleas- 
ant. About  two  o'clock  on  Sunday 
the  21st,  they  made  Cape  Clear,  and  the 
weather,  which  had,  during  the  earlier 
part  of  the  voyage,  been  moderate  and 
favorable,  now  became  thick  and  fog- 
gy, the  wind  blowing  fresh,  with  heavy 
squalls  from  the  southward.  The  ship 
had  been  carrying  all  her  canvass,  but 
as  the  gale  increased  they  were  obliged 
to  shorten  sail.  At  four  o'clock,  they 
were  under  double-reefed  topsails, 
foresail,  and  mainsail,  when  a  sudden 
squall  carried  away  the  fore-yard  and 
split  the  fore-topsail.  They  therefore 
got  the  broken  yard  down,  and  pre- 
pared to  replace  it  by  another. 

As  night  came  on,  the  decks  were 
cleared  for  working  the  ship ;  the  wind, 
however,  lulled,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  the  storm  of  the  day  was  over. 
As  they  were  near  the  coast,  all  hands 


WRECK    OF    THE   ALBION.  191 

flattered  themselves  they  should,  in  a 
short  time,  reach  their  destined  har- 
bor, and  be  once  more  secure  from  the 
dangers  of  the  deep.  About  nine 
o'clock,  the  ship  was  struck  by  a  tre- 
mendous sea,  which  threw  her  on  her 
beam-ends,  and  carried  away  the  main- 
mast by  the  board,  the  heads  of  the 
mizenmast  and  fore-topmast,  sweep- 
ing the  deck  clear  of  everything,  in- 
cluding boats,  caboose-house,  and  bul- 
warks, and  staving  in  all  the  hatches, 
and  state-rooms,  and  nearly  filling  the 
cabin  with  water.  It  also  carried 
away  six  of  the  crew  and  one  of  the 
cabin  passengers,  and,  in  short,  so  de- 
structive was  its  influence,  that  it  left 
the  Albion  in  the  state  of  a  wreck. 

As  the  ship  now  became  unmanage- 
able, and  the  sea  continued  to  make  a 
complete  breach  over  her,  both  crew 
and  passengers  were  obliged  to  lash 


192  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

themselves  to  the  pumps,  in  order  to 
keep  themselves  from  being  washed 
away  while  working  them.  All  who 
were  unnecessary  or  unable  to  afford 
assistance  on  deck  retired  below,  but 
the  water  was  knee-deep  in  the  cabin, 
and  the  furniture  floating  about  ren- 
dered their  situation  dangerous  and 
dreadful.  On  deck  they  were  in  total 
darkness,  and  having  no  correct  com- 
passes, they  could  not  tell  how  the 
ship's  head  lay. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  the  22d,  they  made  the  light  of  the 
Old  Head  of  Kinsale,  a  light-house 
on  the  Irish  coast,  but  could  not  as- 
certain its  bearing,  and  at  two  o'clock 
they  found  the  ship  embayed.  All 
night  long  the  wind  had  blown  direct- 
ly on  shore,  towards  which  the  vessel 
was  drifting  at  the  rate  of  about  three 
miles  an  hour.     The  complete  hope- 


WRECK    OF    THE    ALBION.  193 

lessness  of  their  situation  was  known 
to  few  on  board  ;  but  to  Captain  Wil- 
liams the  coast  was  familiar,  and  he 
must  have  seen,  in  despair  and  horror, 
throughout  the  night,  the  certainty  of 
their  fate.  At  length  the  noise  of  the 
ocean  roaring  and  dashing  upon  the 
rocky  and  precipitous  shore,  spoke 
too  plainly  of  the  fate  that  awaited 
them.  The  captain,  seeing  that  the 
crisis  was  now  close  at  hand,  and  that 
the  wreck  of  the  vessel  was  inevitable, 
summoned  all  the  passengers  on  deck, 
and  briefly  told  them  that  each  must 
prepare  to  save  himself,  as  the  ship 
must  soon  strike  —  it  was  impossible 
to  preserve  her.  The  scene  was  one 
of  the  most  touching  description  ; 
many  of  them  had  received  considera- 
ble injury  when  the  sea  first  struck  the 
ship,  and  were  scarcely  able  to  come 
on  deck  ;  others  were  completely  ex- 
17 


194  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

hausted  from  having  been  incessantly 
assisting  at  the  pumps ;  and  one  gen- 
tleman, who  had  been  extremely  ill 
during  the  voyage,  Mr.  William  Ever- 
hart,  of  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  was 
too  feeble  to  crawl  to  the  deck  with- 
out assistance,  though,  strange  to  say, 
he  was  the  only  cabin  passenger  who 
was  saved. 

The  situation  of  the  passengers  on 
board  the  Albion  was,  at  this  moment, 
one  of  peculiar  agony,  as  they  watched, 
without  the  power  of  resistance,  the 
deadly  and  relentless  blast  impelling 
them  to  destruction — the  ship  a  wreck 
—  and  the  raging  of  the  billows  against 
the  precipice  on  which  they  were 
driving,  sending  back  from  the  rocky 
caverns  the  hoarse  and  melancholy 
warnings  of  death.  In  such  a  situa- 
tion, the  stoutest  heart  must  have 
quailed  with  utter  despair. 


WRECK    OF    THE    ALBION.  195 

As  the  morning  dawned,  the  Albion 
struck  on  a  reef,  her  upper-works  beat 
in  over  the  rocks,  and  in  about  half  an 
hour  she  parted  midships,  her  quarter- 
deck drifting  on  the  top  of  the  inside 
ledge,  immediately  under  the  cliffs. 
The  perpendicular  precipice  of  rocks, 
under  which  the  unfortunate  vessel 
struck,  is  nearly  two  hundred  feet  in 
height,  in  the  base  of  which,  the  sea 
beating  for  ages,  has  worn  large  cav 
erns,  into  which  the  waves  rush  vio- 
lently, sending  back  a  deep  and  hol- 
low sound  ;  after  striking  against  the 
rock,  they  are  thrown  back  in  various 
directions,  forming  whirlpools  of  great 
violence.  For  some  distance  from  the 
precipice,  rocks  rise  out  of  the  water, 
broad  at  bottom,  and  sharp  at  top  :  on 
one  of  these  the  Albion  first  struck  ; 
the  next  wave  threw  her  farther  on  the 
rock,  the  third  farther  still,  until,  nearly 


196  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

balanced,  she  swung  round,  and  her 
stern  was  driven  against  another,  closer 
in  shore. 

In  this  perilous  situation,  every  wave 
making  a  complete  breach  over  her, 
many  of  the  passengers  and  crew  were 
drowned  on  deck.  Captain  Williams, 
worn  out  with  the  extraordinary  exer- 
tions which,  up  to  the  last  moment,  he 
continued  to  make  for  the  preservation 
of  the  lives  of  the  unfortunate  passen- 
gers and  crew,  was,  with  several  oth- 
ers, swept  away  soon  after  the  vessel 
struck. 

A  short  time  before  she  parted,  the 
mate  and  six  of  the  crew  managed  to 
gain  a  rock,  but  so  exhausted  were 
they  by  their  previous  exertions,  and 
by  the  dashing  of  the  waves,  which 
every  instant  washed  over  them,  that 
the  mate  was  washed  off;  fortunately, 
however,  he  regained  his  position  be- 


WRECK    OF    THE    ALBION.  197 

fore  the  return  of  the  sea.  So  ex- 
hausted was  he,  that  before  he  could 
attempt  to  climb  the  rock,  which  was 
nearly  perpendicular,  he  was  obliged 
to  lie  down  to  recover  strength  from 
the  severe  bruises  and  contusions 
which  he  had  received.  One  of  the 
passengers  also  reached  the  rock  alive, 
but,  together  with  one  of  the  stew- 
ards, he  was  washed  off  and  drowned. 
Perceiving  that  the  stern  was  higher 
out  of  water  than  the  fore  part  of  the 
wreck,  and  the  sea  had  less  power  in 
its  sweep  over  it,  Mr.  Everhart  went 
aft.  He  now  saw  that  the  bottom  had 
been  broken  out  of  the  ship.  The 
heavy  articles  must  have  sunk,  and 
the  cotton  and  lighter  articles  were 
floating  around,  dashed  by  every  wave 
against  the  rocks.  Presently  the  ship 
broke  in  two,  and  all  who  remained 
near  the  bow  were  lost.  Several  had 
17* 


198  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

got  on  the  side  of  the  precipice  from 
the  stern  of  the  ship,  and  were  hang- 
ing by  the  crags.  Although  weaken- 
ed by  previous  sickness  and  present 
suffering,  Mr.  Everhart  made  an  ef- 
fort and  got  upon  the  rock,  and  stood 
upon  one  foot,  which  was  the  only 
hold  he  could  obtain.  He  saw  sev- 
eral of  his  fellow-sufferers  around 
him,  and,  among  the  rest,  Colonel 
Prevost,  who,  on  seeing  him  take  his 
station,  remarked,  "  Here  is  another 
poor  fellow."  But  the  waves  rolling 
heavily  against  them,  and  often  dash- 
ing the  spray  fifty  feet  above  their 
heads,  gradually  swept  them  away, 
one  after  another.  One  of  the  sailors, 
losing  his  hold,  attempted  to  grasp 
Mr.  Everhart's  leg,  and  nearly  pulled 
him  from  his  place.  Weak  and  ill  as 
he  was,  however,  he  contrived  to  re- 
tain his  position,  and  stood  for  several 


WRECK    OF    THE    ALBION.  199 

hours  on  one  foot  on  a  little  crag,  the 
billows  dashing  over  him,  and  quite 
benumbed  with  cold. 

By  day-light,  the  wreck  having 
been  discovered,  as  soon  as  the  eb- 
bing of  the  tide  rendered  it  practica- 
ble, the  country  people  descended  the 
rocks  as  far  as  they  could,  and  drop- 
ped Mr.  Everhart  a  rope,  which  he 
fastened  round  his  body,  and  was 
drawn  up  to  a  place  of  safety.  Of 
twenty-three  cabin  passengers  he 
alone  escaped. 

Many  of  the  passengers  who  were 
lost  in  this  melancholy  shipwreck, 
held  distinguished  stations  in  society. 
The  most  eminent  sufferer  was  Gen. 
Lefebvre  Desnouettes,  who,  during  a 
long  series  of  years,  had  braved  death 
in  the  field  of  battle,  and  escaped  to 
perish  at  last  in  this  catastrophe,  when 
his  mind  was,   perhaps,   less  than  at 


200  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

any  other  period  of  his  life,  reconciled 
to  the  stroke  of  fate.  His  situation 
was  every  way  peculiar.  It  is  well 
known  that  he  had  been  one  of  the  fa- 
vorite and  most  distinguished  of  Na- 
poleon's military  generals,  and  that 
he  took  part  in  the  combination 
against  Louis  XVIII.  On  the  land- 
ing of  his  old  commander  from  Elba, 
with  headlong  enthusiasm  he  joined 
him  in  his  last  campaign,  and  being 
proscribed  by  the  royal  government, 
took  refuge  in  the  United  States. 
Here  his  misfortunes,  reputation,  in- 
telligence, and  manly,  unexceptiona- 
ble deportment,  rendered  him  an  ob- 
ject of  universal  esteem.  To  escape, 
as  he  used  to  remark,  pity  and  curi- 
osity, and  to  gratify  the  natural  ac- 
tivity of  his  mind,  he  retired  to  the 
territory  granted  to  the  French  exiles 
in  the  State  of  Alabama,  where  he 


WRECK    OF    THE    ALBION.  201 

labored  in  the  fields,  under  the  burn- 
ing sun,  with  a  reckless  exertion,  which 
proved  very  injurious  to  his  health. 
His  wife,  an  amiable  and  accomplish- 
ed woman,  remained  behind  in  France 
to  look  after  his  interests  there.  Hav- 
ing begun  his  agricultural  toil,  he 
never  quitted  it  until  his  final  depar- 
ture from  the  country,  except  to  visit 
Washington  on  business.  At  length, 
he  addressed  a  petition  to  the  French 
government,  praying  to  be  allowed  to 
return  home.  He  received  directions 
to  proceed  to  Holland,  and  there  wait 
the  final  pleasure  of  the  king  ;  and,  on 
his  way  to  Liverpool,  met  with  a  wa- 
tery grave  on  the  Irish  coast. 

It  is  a  very  affecting  tale  indeed, 
Uncle  Thomas !  How  shocking  to 
think  that,  after  crossing  the  Atlantic 
ocean  in  safety,  they  should  perish 
when  almost  within  sight  of  home  ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

UNCLE    THOMAS     TELLS    OF     THE    LOSS    OF    THE    DOD- 
DINGTON   EAST    INDIAMAN. 

This  evening,  boys,  I  am  going  to 
tell  you  of  the  loss  of  the  Doddington, 
which  was  wrecked  on  a  barren,  unin- 
habited rock,  when  nearly  two  hun- 
dred persons  lost  their  lives. 

The  Doddington  sailed  from  the 
Downs,  April  23d,  1755,  in  company 
with  four  others  of  the  East  India 
Company's  ships.  On  the  20th  of 
May,  they  made  Bonavista,  one  of 
the  Cape  de  Verd  Islands,  and  on  the 
21st  got  into  Port  Prior  Bay,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  in  a  supply  of  fresh 
water.  On  the  27th,  she  proceeded 
on  her  voyage,  in  company  with  three 
of  the  vessels  with  which  she  had  at 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  203 

first  set  out,  leaving  the  other,  which 
had  not  yet  completed  her  refitment, 
in  the  roads.  They  continued  to- 
gether until  the  following  day,  when 
the  Captain,  thinking  that  their  course 
was  too  easterly,  ordered  the  Dod- 
dington  to  be  kept  south ;  and  after 
a  fine  run  of  seven  weeks,  she  made 
the  land  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  they  took  their 
departure  from  Cape  Needles,  and 
the  vessel  having  steered  eastward 
about  twenty-four  hours,  the  Captain 
ordered  her  to  be  kept  E.  N.  E.  In 
this  course  she  continued  till  about  a 
quarter  before  one  on  the  morning  of 
Thursday  the  17th  of  July,  when  she 
struck. 

The  officer  whose  journal  furnishes 
materials  for  the  following  narrative, 
was,  at  the  time  of  the  accident,  asleep 
in    his    cabin;    but   being    suddenly 


204  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

awakened  by  the  shock,  he  started  up 
in  the  utmost  consternation,  and  hur- 
ried upon  deck.  He  found  the  sea 
rolling  over  the  ship  with  the  utmost 
violence,  and  sweeping  the  men  over- 
board, while  the  beating  of  the  surge 
upon  the  vessel  threatened,  every  in- 
stant, to  dash  her  in  pieces.  On 
reaching  the  larboard  side  of  the  deck, 
which  lay  highest  out  of  the  water, 
he  encountered  the  Captain,  who  told 
him  in  a  very  little  time  they  must  all 
perish  ;  in  a  few  minutes  a  sea  parted 
them,  and  he  saw  him  no  more.  He 
managed,  by  dint  of  great  exertion,  to 
get  back  to  the  quarter-deck,  though 
he  was  much  bruised  and  had  the 
small  bone  of  his  left  arm  broken ; 
the  other  portion  of  the  ship  was,  in 
the  meantime,  overwhelmed  by  the 
waves  and  completely  shattered  in 
pieces. 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  205 

In  this  dreadful  situation,  when 
every  minute  he  expected  would  be 
the  last  of  all  who  still  clung  to  the 
wreck,  he  heard  the  welcome  cry  of 
"  Land  !  V  and  looked  eagerly  about 
him  ;  but  though  he  saw  something 
which  he  supposed  had  been  taken  for 
land,  he  believed  that  it  was  only  the 
bursting  of  the  surge  on  the  other  side 
of  the  breakers.  At  this  instant,  the 
sea  broke  over  him  with  such  fury, 
that  it  not  only  forced  him  from  his 
hold,  but  such  was  the  violence  of  the 
blow,  that  he  was  stunned,  and  lay 
insensible  till  after  daylight.  On  re- 
covering, he  found  himself  fixed  to  a 
plank  by  a  nail  that  had  been  forced 
into  his  shoulder.  Besides  the  pain 
of  his  wound,  and  the  many  bruises 
which  he  had  sustained,  he  was  so 
benumbed  with  cold  that  he  could 
scarcely  move.  He  now  observed  that 
18 


206  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

several  of  the  crew  had  got  on  the 
rocks  which  were  near,  and  called  out 
to  them  as  loud  as  he  could ;  but 
they  were  not  able  to  give  him  any 
assistance,  so  that  a  considerable  time 
elapsed  before  he  was  able  to  disen- 
gage himself  from  the  wreck  and  get 
on  shore. 

On  reaching  the  rock,  he  found 
twenty-three  of  his  companions,  which 
were  all  that  had  been  able  to  save 
themselves  out  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty  individuals  that  were  on  board 
when  the  ship  struck.  Their  first 
care  was  to  search  among  the  things 
that  had  been  thrown  on  the  rocks 
from  the  wreck,  for  something  to 
cover  them  from  the  weather,  and  in 
this  they  succeeded  almost  beyond 
their  expectations ;  but  the  attainment 
of  fire  was  not  so  easily  accomplished. 
Some  of  them  made  an  unsuccessful 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  207 

attempt  to  kindle  two  pieces  of  wood 
by  rubbing  them  together,  while  oth- 
ers diligently  searched  the  rocks  in 
anxious  endeavors  to  find  a  substitute 
for  flint  and  steel.  After  some  time 
they  found  a  box  containing  a  couple 
of  gun-flints  and  a  broken  file,  which 
was  a  most  joyful  acquisition,  though 
they  still  wanted  tinder.  After  a 
further  search,  they  discovered  a  cask 
of  gunpowder,  which,  to  their  great 
disappointment,  proved  to  be  wet ; 
but,  on  a  more  narrow  inspection, 
they  found  a  small  quantity  at  the 
bottom  that  had  suffered  no  damage. 
Some  of  this  bruised  on  a  linen  rag, 
served  their  purpose  very  well. 

Having  at  length  succeeded  in  light- 
ing a  fire,  the  bruised  and  wounded 
collected  round  it,  while  the  others 
went  in  search  of  further  necessaries. 
A  box  of  wax  candles  and  a  case  of 


208  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

brandy  were  the  first  brought  in,  and 
soon  afterwards  another  party  return- 
ed, stating  that  they  had  discovered  a 
cask  almost  full  of  fresh  water,  ♦which 
was  of  greater  consequence  than  the 
spirits,  as  there'  was  no  fresh  water  to 
be  found  on  the  island.  They  could 
also  see  at  some  distance  several  casks 
of  water,  flour,  and  beer ;  but  it  was 
not  possible  to  get  at  them  over  the 
rocks. 

It  now  became  necessary  to  pro- 
vide some  shelter  for  the  approaching 
night ;  all  hands  were  therefore  em- 
ployed in  making  a  tent  of  some  can- 
vass that  had  been  cast  ashore  ;  but 
the  quantity  was  so  small  that  the 
tent  would  not  hold  them  all,  and  for 
fear  of  being  overflowed,  they  were 
obliged  to  erect  it  on  the  highest  part 
of  the  island.  Here  they  were  so 
much  exposed  to  the  storm  that  their 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  209 

frail  encampment  was  in  danger  of 
being  blown  away ;  their  fire  was 
scattered,  ami  before  they  could  col- 
lect the  embers  the  rain  extinguished 
them.  On  renewing  their  search  in 
the  morning,  they  found,  to  their  great 
mortification,  that  all  the  casks  which 
they  had  seen  the  preceding  night, 
with  the  exception  of  one  of  flour  and 
another  of  beer,  had  been  staved 
against  the  rocks.  These,  however, 
they  secured  ;  but  the  tide  flowing 
up  soon  after,  interrupted  their  pro- 
ceedings. As,  in  their  desolate  and 
forlorn  situation,  their  thoughts  natu- 
rally hurried  from  one  subject  to 
another  in  quest  of  some  source  of 
comfort,  it  was  suggested  by  one  of 
them  that,  as  the  carpenter  was  among 
them,  he  might  build  a  vessel  to  carry 
thern  to  a  port  of  safety,  provided 
they  could  obtain  some  tools  and  ma- 
18* 


210  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

terials.  The  attention  of  every  one 
was  immediately  directed  towards  the 
carpenter,  who  declared  his  belief  that 
if  tools  and  materials  could  be  found, 
he  should  be  able  to  build  a  bark ; 
and  though  at  that  time  there  was  no 
prospect  of  procuring  either,  yet  no 
sooner  had  they  thought  their  deliver- 
ance but  one  remove  beyond  total  im- 
possibility, than  they  seemed  to  think 
it  neither  impossible  nor  difficult. 
The  boat  engrossed  their  whole  con- 
versation, and  they  not  only  debated 
on  her  size  and  rigging,  but  to  what 
port  they  should  steer  when  she  was 
fairly  afloat.  Some  of  them  imme- 
diately dispersed  in  search  of  mate- 
rials for  their  projected  vessel,  but 
they  did  not  succeed  in  finding  any. 
On  the  following  day,  however,  they 
secured  four  butts  of  water,  one  cask 
of  flour,  one  hogshead  of  brandy,  and 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODBINGTON.  211 

a  small  boat,  which  had  been  thrown 
up  by  the  tide  in  a  shattered  condi- 
tion ;  but  no  tools  were  found,  with 
the  exception  of  a  scraper.  Next  day 
they  had  the  good  fortune  to  discover 
a  box  containing  files,  gimlets,  sail- 
needles,  and  an  azimuth  compass- 
card  ;  they  also  found  two  quadrants, 
a  carpenter's  adze,  a  chisel,  three 
sword-blades,  and  a  chest  of  treasure. 
On  Monday,  the  20th  of  July,  they 
recovered  some  more  provisions,  and 
also  some  timber-plank,  canvass,  and 
cordage,  which  they  joyfully  secured 
for  their  projected  vessel,  though  still 
in  want  of  many  implements  indis- 
pensable for  the  carpenter  to  proceed 
with  his  work.  It  happened,  how- 
ever, that  one  of  the  seamen,  Hen- 
drick  Scanty,  a  native  of  Sweden, 
who  had  originally  been  a  smith  by 
profession,  having  pickecj  up  an  old 


212  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

pair  of  bellows,  told  his  companions 
that,  by  the  aid  of  a  forge,  which  they 
could  build  by  his  directions,  he  could 
furnish  the  carpenter  with  all  neces- 
sary tools  as  well  as  nails,  as  plenty 
of  iron  could  be  obtained  by  burning 
it  out  of  pieces  of  the  wreck  driven 
ashore.  He  began  immediately  to 
mend  the  bellows,  and  the  three  fol- 
lowing days  were  occupied  in  building 
a  tent  and  forge,  and  in  collecting 
timber  for  the  use  of  the  carpenter, 
who  was  also  employed  in  preparing 
the  few  tools  already  in  his  possession, 
that  the  boat  might  be  begun  as  soon 
as  possible. 

In  a  few  days  the  carpenter  began 
to  work  on  the  keel  of  the  vessel, 
which,  it  was  determined,  should  be 
a  sloop,  thirty  feet  in  length  by  twelve 
in  width.  The  smith  also  finished  his 
forge,  and  h^  and  the  carpenter  con- 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  213 

tinued  thenceforward  to  work  with 
indefatigable  diligence,  except  when 
prevented  by  the  weather.  The  smith, 
having  fortunately  found  the  ring  and 
nut  of  a  bower-anchor,  which  served 
him  for  an  anvil,  supplied  chisels, 
axes,  hammers  and  nails,  as  they  were 
required,  and  the  carpenter  used  them 
with  great  dexterity  and  despatch. 

After  having  been  nearly  seven 
weeks  upon  the  rock,  during  which 
time  they  had  frequently  seen  a  great 
smoke  upon  the  main  land,  they  de- 
termined to  send  the  boat  which  had 
been  recovered  from  the  wreck,  which 
the  carpenter  had  so  patched  up  as  to 
fit  it  for  sea,  to  ascertain  what  assist- 
ance could  be  obtained.  For  this 
purpose,  three  men  set  out  on  a  voy- 
age of  discovery,  the  people  making  a 
great  fire  at  night  on  the  highest  part 
of  the  rock,  as  a  signal  to  them. 


214  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS,, 

After  waiting  three  days,  the  return 
of  the  boat  was  impatiently  expected  ; 
but  nothing  being  seen  of  it  by  noon 
they  became  very  uneasy.  At  length, 
however,  they  discovered  it  approach- 
ing, but  it  was  rowed  by  only  one 
man,  who  plied  both  oars,  and  they 
Consequently  concluded  that  the  other 
two  had  been  lost  or  detained.  Pres- 
ently, however,  another  was  seen  to 
rise  from  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and 
their  speed  was  a  little  increased. 

Their  interest  and  curiosity  were 
wound  up  to  the  highest  pitch,  when 
the  two  men,  jumping  from  the  boat, 
threw  themselves  on  the  ground,  and 
returned  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for 
their  deliverance.  They  were,  how- 
ever, so  exhausted  by  the  exertions 
which  they  had  made,  that  they  now 
sank  on  the  ground  and  could  not  rise 
without  assistance.     When  sufficient- 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  215 

ly  recovered,   they  related  their  ad- 
ventures since  they  left  the  island. 

On  the  day  of  their  departure,  after 
sailing  about  six  leagues  to  the  east- 
ward, they  got  round  a  point  of  land, 
and  ventured  to  pull  for  the  shore  ; 
but  the  moment  they  got  into  the  surf, 
the  boat  was  upset,  by  which  their 
companion  was  unfortunately  drown- 
ed. They  managed,  however,  to  reach 
the  land,  though  in  a  very  exhausted 
condition.  On  recovering  a  little, 
they  crawled  along  the  shore  in  search 
of  the  boat,  as  they  had  no  other  shel- 
ter from  wild  beasts,  which  might  be 
expected  to  come  abroad  in  the  night, 
and  after  some  search  found  her  ;  but 
they  were  too  weak  to  get  her  up, 
and  were  obliged  to  lie  down  on  the 
sand,  with  no  other  covering  than  the 
branches  of  a  tree.  In  the  morning 
they   again    searched    for    the   boat, 


216  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

which  the  surf  had  driven  from  the 
place  where  they  left  her,  and  in  walk- 
ing along  the  coast  saw  a  man,  who, 
on  their  approach,  ran  away  into  the 
woods.  Soon  afterwards  they  dis- 
covered the  body  of  their  unfortunate 
companion,  which  had  been  dragged 
some  distance  from  the  shore,  and 
mangled  by  some  wild  beast,  which 
so  terrified  them,  that  rather  than  un- 
dergo the  dread  of  passing  another 
night  on  shore,  they  resolved  to  return 
immediately.  Encountering  a  gale 
from  the  west,  the  boat  was  once  more 
upset,  but  after  much  struggling  and 
swimming,  they  got  safe  to  land,  ex- 
hausted by  their  exertions  and  faint 
with  hunger.  Having  managed  to 
get  the  boat  on  shore,  they  turned  it 
keel  upwards  and  crept  under  it  to 
sleep. 

Wearied    by   their   late   exertions, 


LOSS    OF    THE   DODDINGTON.  217 

they  slept  till  the  dawn  of  day,  when, 
peeping  out  from  under  the  edge  of  the 
boat,  they  saw  the  feet  of  several  ani- 
mals, which  they  supposed  to  be  tigers, 
which  induced  them  to  remain  under 
the  boat  till  the  day  had  well  broke, 
when  once  more  looking  out  they  saw 
the  feet  of  a  man.  On  this  discovery, 
they  crept  out,  to  the  great  amaze- 
ment of  a  poor  savage  and  two  other 
men  and  a  boy,  who  were  at  some  dis- 
tance. When  they  were  a  little  re- 
covered from  their  surprise,  the  sav- 
ages made  signs  for  them  to  go  away, 
which  they  endeavored  to  do,  though 
they  began  to  move  very  slowly  :  but 
they  had  not  got  far  when  a  consid- 
erable number  of  the  natives  ran  down 
upon  them  with  their  lances,  and  took 
them  prisoners. 

They  then  rifled  the  boat,  and  took 
away  all  the  rope  they  could  find,  and 
19 


218  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

began  to  knock  the  boat  in  pieces,  for 
the  iron  which  they  saw  about  it. 
With  the  exception  of  absolute  de- 
struction to  these  hapless  mariners, 
this  was  the  greatest  calamity  they 
could  sustain ;  and,  rough  as  they 
were,  they  burst  into  tears,  and  en- 
treated the  savages  to  desist,  with 
such  agony  and  distress,  that  they  suf- 
fered the  boat  to  remain  without  fur- 
ther injury.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing, taking  an  opportunity  of  eluding 
the  vigilance  of  the  savages,  they 
launched  the  boat  for  the  third  time, 
and  returned  to  their  companions  on 
the  rock. 

This  narrative  was  far  from  encour- 
aging ;  nevertheless  the  carpenter  con- 
tinued his  work  with  the  greatest  as- 
siduity, and  with  such  success,  that, 
imperfect  as  were  the  tools  with  which 
he   worked,    on    the    17th    Februar 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  219 

1756,  they  launched  their  little  vessel, 
and  bade  adieu  to  the  rock  on  which 
they  had  lived  seven  months.  They 
weighed  anchor  at  one  in  the  after- 
noon, and  set  sail,  with  a  light  breeze 
from  the  west,  for  the  river  St.  Lucia, 
on  the  coast  of  Natal ;  but  misfortune 
still  seemed  to  attend  them.  For 
twenty-five  days  they  met  with  nothing 
but  adversity;  their  provisions  were 
almost  exhausted,  and  the  rapid  cur- 
rents carried  them  so  far  out  of  their 
course,  that  a  favorable  wind  was  of 
but  little  service  to  them.  Despairing 
at  last  of  being  able  to  make  the  river 
St.  Lucia,  they  resolved  to  change 
their  course  for  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  accordingly,  on  the  2d  of 
March,  bore  away  for  the  west. 

The  three  following  days  the  wind 
increased  to  such  prodigious  violence 
that  it  blew  a  furious  storm,  and  their 


220  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

frail  bark  shipped  such  heavy  seas, 
that  they  expected  each  wave,  as  it 
rolled  over,  to  dash  her  in  pieces.  On 
the  morning  of  the  5th,  however,  fine 
weather  ensued,  and  on  the  7th  it  was 
a  perfect  calm,  when  they  cast  anchor 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from 
the  shore,  where  they  observed  several 
natives  coming  down  from  the  moun- 
tains towards  them. 

Encouraged  by  this  sight,  they  at- 
tempted to  land,  and  Arnold,  the  black 
servant,  was  sent  on  shore,  accompa- 
nied by  two  seamen,  with  a  string  of 
amber  beads  as  a  present  to  the  In- 
dians. After  a  mutual  interchange  of 
civilities,  he  obtained  some  Indian 
corn,  fruit,  and  water,  in  a  calabash, 
with  a  promise  of  sheep,  oxen,  and 
other  necessaries ;  but  the  wind  con- 
tinuing westerly,  the  boat  returned 
with  a  supply  only  sufficient  for  four 
days. 


LOSS   OF   THE   DODDINGTON.  221 

They  continued  to  coast  along,  oc- 
casionally landing  to  barter  with  the 
natives,  who  everywhere  thronged  to 
the  shore  and  received  them  with  kind- 
ness. At  length,  on  the  6th  April, 
they  arrived  at  St.  Lucia. 

Having  landed,  they  signified  to  the 
natives  their  wish  to  trade  with  them ; 
but  the  Indians  intimated  that  they 
wanted  nothing  but  small  beads  : 
however,  on  being  shown  some  copper 
buttons,  they  brought  bullocks,  fowls, 
potatoes,  gourds,  and  other  provisions. 
No  bullocks  could  be  purchased  ;  for 
the  natives  wanted  copper  rings  large 
enough  for  collars,  in  exchange.  Of 
the  fowls,  they  gave  five  or  six  for  a 
small  piece  of  linen,  and  the  other 
things  in  proportion. 

They  remained  here  three  weeks, 
being  engaged  in  traversing  the  coun- 
try, and  endeavoring  to  obtain  such 
19* 


222  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

articles  as  they  wanted.  The  Indians 
set  a  great  value  on  copper,  and  on 
being  shown  the  handle  of  an  old  box, 
offered  two  bullocks  for  it,  which  were 
immediately  accepted  and  driven  on 
board  the  vessel. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  a  favorable 
breeze  springing  up  from  the  west, 
attended  with  good  weather,  they 
weighed  anchor  at  seven  in  the  morn- 
ing and  set  sail.  Two  days  after- 
wards they  arrived  in  Lagoa  Bay, 
where  they  found  the  Rose,  a  trading 
vessel,  in  which  some  of  them  request- 
ed a  passage  to  Bombay. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  the  Rose 
sailed  for  Madagascar,  where,  hap- 
pening to  fall  in  with  one  of  the  East 
India  Company's  ships,  bound  for 
Madras,  the  packets  of  treasure  were 
transferred  to  it,  and  in  about  a  month 
arrived  in  safety  at  their  destination. 


LOSS    OF    THE    DODDINGTON.  223 

I  must  now  bid  you  good  bye, 
boys — not  that  I  have  exhausted  my 
"  Tales  of  Shipwrecks/'  but  my  space 
being  filled  up,  I  must  stop  for  the 
present.  I  hope  we  shall  soon  meet 
again.  Our  present  meetings  have 
not,  I  trust,  been  without  profit  as 
well  as  amusement.  The  various 
narratives  of  suffering  have  awakened 
our  sympathies,  and  taught  us  to  feel 
how  much  we  owe  to  the  intrepidity 
of  the  adventurous  seamen,  who,  bid- 
ding defiance  to  the  perils  of  the  deep, 
bear  the  blessings  of  commerce  and 
civilization  to  the  farthest  corners  of 
the  earth.  Nor  ought  our  conversa- 
tions to  have  been  void  of  instruction 
— opening  up  to  us,  as  they  have  done, 
the  mighty  works  of  God  and  his 
mysterious  dealings  with  mankind. 
"They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in 
ships,"  says  the  Psalmist,   "that  do 


224  TALES    OF    SHIPWRECKS. 

business  in  great  waters — these  see 
the  works  of  the  Lord,  and  his  won- 
ders in  the  deep.  For  he  command- 
eth  and  raiseth  the  stormy  wind,  which 
lifteth  up  the  waves  thereof.  They 
mount  up  to  the  heavens,  they  go 
down  again  to  the  depths  :  their  soul 
is  melted  because  of  trouble.  They 
reel  to  and  fro,  and  stagger  like  a 
drunken  man,  and  are  at  their  wit's 
end.  Then  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  in 
their  trouble,  and  he  bringeth  them 
out  of  their  distresses.  He  maketh 
the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves 
thereof  are  still.  Then  are  they  glad 
because  they  be  quiet ;  so  he  bringeth 
them  unto  their  desired  haven.  O, 
that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for 
his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonderful 
works  to  the  children  of  men  !  " 
Good  bye,  Uncle  Thomas  ! 


RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


29Apr,58MW, 

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